Dihydrobenzimidazolones for medical treatment

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides selected dihydrobenzimidazolones which bind to the ubiquitously expressed E3 ligase protein cereblon (CRBN) and alter the substrate specificity of the CRBN E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, resulting in breakdown of intrinsic downstream proteins. The disclosed compounds are useful for the treatment of cancer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2018/073584, filed Sep. 3, 2018, which claims the benefit of priority to European Patent Application No. 17189228.4, filed Sep. 4, 2017. The entirety of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides dihydrobenzimazolone compounds which bind to the ubiquitously expressed E3 ligase protein cereblon (CRBN) and alter the substrate specificity of the CRBN E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, resulting in breakdown of intrinsic downstream proteins. The disclosed compounds are useful for the treatment of cancer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of targeted protein degradation promoted by small molecules has been intensively studied over the last years¹.

Protein degradation plays a role in various cellular functions, i.e. the concentrations of regulatory proteins are adjusted through degradation into small peptides to maintain health and productivity of the cells.

Cereblon is a protein that forms an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, which ubiquinates various other proteins. Cereblon is known as primary target for anticancer thalidomide analogs. A higher expression of cereblon has been linked to the efficiency of thalidomide analogs in cancer therapy.

In recent years, a few bifunctional compounds have been described as useful modulators of targeted ubiquitination, e.g. WO2013020557², WO2013063560³, WO 2013106643⁴, WO2015160845⁵, WO2016011906⁶, WO2016105518⁷, WO2017007612⁸, WO2017024318⁹ and WO2017117473¹⁰.

WO2011035124¹¹, WO02072576¹², WO2010085684¹³, WO2014134240¹⁴, WO2011130628¹⁵, WO2007065518¹⁶, WO2016176460¹⁷, WO2009135651¹⁸, WO2011156245¹⁹, WO2017046318²⁰, WO2010130794²¹, WO2012021382²², WO2005060967²³, WO2012174199²⁴, EP385850²⁵, WO2016176449²⁶, WO2016040508²⁷, WO0020358²⁸, EP1256578²⁹, WO2006058338³⁰, WO2004108133³¹, WO2010108187³², WO2005113489³³, WO2012061708³⁴, WO2010023161³⁵, WO2007041598³⁶, WO2009050232³⁷, Terefenko et al.³⁸, Smolyar et al.³⁹, Jun Yon Choi et al.⁴⁰, Hyeju Choi et al.⁴¹, Mitsuaki et al.⁴², Yu et al.⁴³, Vincent et al.⁴⁴ describe structurally related compounds.

However, there is still an ongoing need for effective treatment of cancers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides dihydrobenzimidazolones of formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof,

wherein the substituents and variables are as described below and in the claims, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

The present compounds are useful for the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer.

The compounds of present invention can further be used as part of bifunctional compounds that comprise the compounds of present invention as E3 Ubiquitin Ligase moiety that is linked to a moiety that binds to a target protein where the target protein is proximate to the ubiquitin ligase to effect degradation of said protein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a compound of formula I and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, the preparation of the above-mentioned compounds, medicaments containing them and their manufacture as well as the use of the above-mentioned compounds in the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer.

The following definitions of the general terms used in the present description apply irrespectively of whether the terms in question appear alone or in combination with other groups.

Unless otherwise stated, the following terms used in this Application, including the specification and claims, have the definitions given below. It must be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The term “C₁₋₆-alkyl”, alone or in combination with other groups, stands for a hydrocarbon radical which may be linear or branched, with single or multiple branching, wherein the alkyl group in general comprises 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example, methyl (Me), ethyl (Et), propyl, isopropyl (i-propyl), n-butyl, i-butyl (isobutyl), 2-butyl (sec-butyl), t-butyl (tert-butyl), isopentyl, 2-ethyl-propyl (2-methyl-propyl), 1,2-dimethyl-propyl and the like. A specific group is methyl.

The term “halogen-C₁₋₆-alkyl”, alone or in combination with other groups, refers to C₁₋₆-alkyl as defined herein, which is substituted by one or multiple halogen, particularly 1-5 halogen, more particularly 1-3 halogen. Particular halogen is fluoro. Particular “halogen-C₁₋₆-alkyl” is fluoro-C₁₋₆-alkyl and a particular “halogen-C₁₋₃-alkyl” is fluoro-C₁₋₃-alkyl. Examples are trifluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, fluoromethyl and the like.

The term “hydroxy-C₁₋₆-alkyl”, alone or in combination with other groups, refers to C₁₋₆-alkyl as defined herein, which is substituted by one or multiple hydroxy, particularly by 1 hydroxy. Examples are —CH₂OH, —CH₂CH₂OH and the like.

The term “cycloalkyl” denotes a monovalent saturated monocyclic or bicyclic hydrocarbon group of 3 to 10 ring carbon atoms, particularly a monovalent saturated monocyclic hydrocarbon group of 3 to 8 ring carbon atoms. Bicyclic means consisting of two carbocycles having one or more carbon atoms in common, while one carbocycle is saturated, the other one may be aromatic. Particular cycloalkyl groups are monocyclic. Examples for monocyclic cycloalkyl are “C₃₋₇cycloalkyl” such as cyclopropyl, cyclobutanyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl or cycloheptyl. Examples for saturated bicyclic cycloalkyl are bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanyl, or bicyclo[2.2.2]octanyl. Examples for bicyclic cycloalkyl wherein one ring is aromatic are 1H-indenyl or 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalenyl.

The term “hydroxy”, alone or in combination with other groups, refers to OH.

The term “Bz” stands for benzyl.

The term “halogen”, alone or in combination with other groups, denotes chloro (Cl), iodo (I), fluoro (F) and bromo (Br). A specific group is F.

The term “heteroaryl” denotes a monovalent heterocyclic mono- or bicyclic ring system of 5 to 12 ring atoms, comprising 1, 2, 3 or 4 heteroatoms selected from N, O and S, the remaining ring atoms being carbon and in which at least one ring is aromatic. Examples of heteroaryl moieties include pyrrolyl, furanyl, thienyl, imidazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, triazolyl, oxadiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, tetrazolyl, pyridinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrazolyl, pyridazinyl, pyrimidinyl, triazinyl, azepinyl, diazepinyl, isoxazolyl, benzofuranyl, isothiazolyl, benzothienyl, indolinyl, indolyl, isoindolyl, isobenzofuranyl, benzimidazolyl, benzoxazolyl, benzoisoxazolyl, benzothiazolyl, benzoisothiazolyl, benzooxadiazolyl, benzothiadiazolyl, benzotriazolyl, purinyl, quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, quinazolinyl, or quinoxalinyl. Specific examples include benzimidazolyl, pyridinyl, thiazolyl, indolinyl, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolinyl, 3,4-dihydroquinolinyl, benzofuranyl, furanyl, imidazolyl, isoindolyl, and quinolinyl.

The term “heterocycloalkyl” denotes a monovalent saturated or partly unsaturated mono- or bicyclic ring system of 4 to 9 ring atoms, comprising 1, 2, or 3 ring heteroatoms selected from N, O and S, the remaining ring atoms being carbon. Examples for monocyclic saturated heterocycloalkyl are azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, tetrahydrothienyl, pyrazolidinyl, imidazolidinyl, oxazolidinyl, isoxazolidinyl, thiazolidinyl, piperidinyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydrothiopyranyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, thiomorpholinyl, 1,1-dioxo-thiomorpholin-4-yl, azepanyl, diazepanyl, homopiperazinyl, or oxazepanyl. Examples for bicyclic saturated heterocycloalkyl are 8-aza-bicyclo[3.2.1]octyl, quinuclidinyl, 8-oxa-3-aza-bicyclo[3.2.1]octyl, 9-aza-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonyl, 3-oxa-9-aza-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonyl, or 3-thia-9-aza-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonyl. Examples for partly unsaturated heterocycloalkyl are dihydrofuryl, imidazolinyl, dihydro-oxazolyl, tetrahydro-pyridinyl, or dihydropyranyl. Specific examples include piperazinyl, piperidinyl, pyrrolidinyl and 3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octanyl.

The term “C₁₋₆-alkoxy”, alone or in combination with other groups, stands for an —O—C₁₋₆-alkyl radical which may be linear or branched, with single or multiple branching, wherein the alkyl group in general comprises 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example, methoxy (OMe, MeO), ethoxy (OEt), propoxy, isopropoxy (i-propoxy), n-butoxy, i-butoxy (iso-butoxy), 2-butoxy (sec-butoxy), t-butoxy (tert-butoxy), isopentyloxy (i-pentyloxy) and the like. Particular “C₁₋₆-alkoxy” are groups with 1 to 4 carbon atoms. A specific group is methoxy.

The term “aryl” denotes a monovalent aromatic carbocyclic mono- or bicyclic ring system comprising 6 to 10 carbon ring atoms. Examples of aryl moieties include phenyl (Ph), Benzyl (Bz) and naphthyl. Specific “aryl” is phenyl.

Terms like “a-b-x substituted by R” means that the “x” portion of the moiety is substituted by R.

The compound of formula I with Z=—NH—C(═O)— is a compound of formula I-1

and the compound of formula I with Z=—C(═O)—NH— is a compound of formula I-2

and the like.

The term “pharmaceutically acceptable” denotes an attribute of a material which is useful in preparing a pharmaceutical composition that is generally safe, non-toxic, and neither biologically nor otherwise undesirable and is acceptable for veterinary as well as human pharmaceutical use.

The term “a pharmaceutically acceptable salt” refers to a salt that is suitable for use in contact with the tissues of humans and animals. Examples of suitable salts with inorganic and organic acids are, but are not limited to acetic acid, citric acid, formic acid, fumaric acid, hydrochloric acid, lactic acid, maleic acid, malic acid, methane-sulfonic acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, p-toluenesulphonic acid, succinic acid, sulfuric acid (sulphuric acid), tartaric acid, trifluoroacetic acid and the like. Particular acids are formic acid, trifluoroacetic acid and hydrochloric acid. Specific acids are hydrochloric acid, trifluoroacetic acid and fumaric acid.

The terms “pharmaceutically acceptable auxiliary substance” refer to carriers and auxiliary substances such as diluents or excipients that are compatible with the other ingredients of the formulation.

The term “pharmaceutical composition” encompasses a product comprising specified ingredients in pre-determined amounts or proportions, as well as any product that results, directly or indirectly, from combining specified ingredients in specified amounts. Particularly it encompasses a product comprising one or more active ingredients, and an optional carrier comprising inert ingredients, as well as any product that results, directly or indirectly, from combination, complexation or aggregation of any two or more of the ingredients, or from dissociation of one or more of the ingredients, or from other types of reactions or interactions of one or more of the ingredients.

“Therapeutically effective amount” means an amount of a compound that, when administered to a subject for treating a disease state, is sufficient to effect such treatment for the disease state. The “therapeutically effective amount” will vary depending on the compound, disease state being treated, the severity or the disease treated, the age and relative health of the subject, the route and form of administration, the judgment of the attending medical or veterinary practitioner, and other factors.

The term “as defined herein” and “as described herein” when referring to a variable incorporates by reference the broad definition of the variable as well as particularly, more particularly and most particularly definitions, if any.

The terms “treating”, “contacting” and “reacting” when referring to a chemical reaction means adding or mixing two or more reagents under appropriate conditions to produce the indicated and/or the desired product. It should be appreciated that the reaction which produces the indicated and/or the desired product may not necessarily result directly from the combination of two reagents which were initially added, i.e., there may be one or more intermediates which are produced in the mixture which ultimately leads to the formation of the indicated and/or the desired product.

The term “aromatic” denotes the conventional idea of aromaticity as defined in the literature, in particular in IUPAC—Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2^(nd) Edition, A. D. McNaught & A. Wilkinson (Eds). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).

The term “pharmaceutically acceptable excipient” denotes any ingredient having no therapeutic activity and being non-toxic such as disintegrators, binders, fillers, solvents, buffers, tonicity agents, stabilizers, antioxidants, surfactants or lubricants used in formulating pharmaceutical products.

Whenever a chiral carbon is present in a chemical structure, it is intended that all stereoisomers associated with that chiral carbon are encompassed by the structure as pure stereoisomers as well as mixtures thereof.

The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions, methods of using, and methods of preparing the aforementioned compounds.

All separate embodiments may be combined.

E1: One embodiment of the invention provides a compound of formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof

-   -   wherein     -   X¹ is H or —C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   X² is H or —C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   W¹ is CH or N,     -   W² is CH or N,     -   W³ is CH or N,     -   and if one of W¹, W² or W³ is N, then the other two are CH,     -   Z is absent or selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—NR¹—(CH₂)₀₋₂—,         -   ii) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—C(═O)—(NR¹)₀₋₁,         -   iii) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—C(═O)—(CH₂)₁₋₃—,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₁₋₃—,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₂, and         -   vi) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—SO_(0,2)—(NR¹)₀₋₁—,     -   R¹ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   A is selected from the group consisting of         -   i) aryl substituted with one or two R²,         -   ii) aryl,         -   iii) heteroaryl substituted with one or two R³         -   iv) heteroaryl,         -   v) heterocycloalkyl substituted with one or two R⁴,         -   vi) heterocycloalkyl,         -   vii) —NH—C(═O)—C₁₋₆alkyl, and         -   viii) cycloalkyl;     -   R² is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   x) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xi) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvi) —O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvii) -halogen,         -   xviii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xix) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xx) —N(R⁵,R⁶),         -   xxi) —NO₂,         -   xxii) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl, and         -   xxiii) —SO₂—N(R⁵,R⁶);     -   R³ is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heterocycloalkyl,         -   x) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xi) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xii) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiv) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xv) —C₁₋₆alkyl-N(R¹¹)—C(═O)—R¹²,         -   xvi) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xvii) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xviii) —O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xix) -halogen,         -   xx) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xxi) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xxii) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl-aryl,         -   xxiii) —N(R⁵,R⁶),         -   xxiv) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xxv) —NH—C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl, and         -   xxvi) ═O;     -   R⁴ is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) ═O,         -   x) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xi) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xii) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiv) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xvi) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvii) -halogen,         -   xviii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xix) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xx) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xxi) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁵ is each independently selected from H, C₁₋₆alkyl and phenyl,     -   R⁶ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁷ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁸ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   or R⁷ and R⁸ form together with the nitrogen they are attached         to a heterocycloalkyl,     -   R⁹ is each independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   ii) C₁₋₆alkyl         -   iii) halogen,         -   iv) halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   v) heteroaryl, and         -   vi) heteroaryl substituted by C₁₋₆alkyl or C₁₋₆alkoxy,     -   R¹⁰ is each independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   ii) C₁₋₆alkyl         -   iii) C₁₋₆alkyl-C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   iv) halogen, and         -   v) halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl;     -   R¹¹ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R¹² is each independently selected from C₁₋₆alkyl and         C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,     -   for use as therapeutically active substance.

E2: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of formula I, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, for use as therapeutically active substance, wherein

-   -   X¹ is H or —C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   X² is H or —C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   W¹ is CH or N,     -   W² is CH or N,     -   W³ is CH or N,     -   and if one of W¹, W² or W³ is N, then the other two are CH,     -   Z is absent or selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—NR¹—(CH₂)₀₋₂—,         -   ii) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—C(═O)—(NR¹)₀₋₁,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₁₋₃—,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₂, and         -   v) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—SO_(0,2)—(NR¹)₀₋₁—,     -   R¹ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   A is selected from the group consisting of         -   i) aryl substituted with one or two R²,         -   ii) aryl,         -   iii) heteroaryl substituted with one or two R³         -   iv) heteroaryl,         -   v) heterocycloalkyl substituted with one or two R⁴, and         -   vi) heterocycloalkyl,     -   R² is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   x) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xi) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvi) -halogen,         -   xvii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xviii) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xix) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xx) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R³ is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heterocycloalkyl,         -   x) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xi) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xii) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiv) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xv) —C₁₋₆alkyl-N(R¹¹)—C(═O)—R¹²,         -   xvi) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xvii) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xviii) -halogen,         -   xix) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xx) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xxi) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xxii) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁴ is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) ═O,         -   x) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xi) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xii) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiv) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xvi) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvii) -halogen,         -   xviii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xix) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xx) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xxi) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁵ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁶ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁷ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁸ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   or R⁷ and R⁸ form together with the nitrogen they are attached         to a heterocycloalkyl,     -   R⁹ is each independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   ii) C₁₋₆alkyl         -   iii) halogen,         -   iv) halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   v) heteroaryl, and         -   vi) heteroaryl substituted by C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R¹⁰ is each independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   ii) C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   iii) halogen, and         -   iv) halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl;     -   R¹¹ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R¹² is each independently selected from C₁₋₆alkyl and         C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,     -   for use as therapeutically active substance.

E3: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of formula I, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, for use as therapeutically active substance, wherein

-   (R)—N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxamide, -   (S)—N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxamide, -   1-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-(4-(phenylamino)phenyl)urea, -   1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-phenylurea, -   1-(3-fluorophenyl)-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea, -   1′,3′-dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   1,3-dimethyl-5-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide, -   1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-carboxamide, -   1-benzyl-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea, -   1-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   1-methyl-5-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   2-(1-(4-methoxyphenyl)cyclopropyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(2-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(2-methoxypyridin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(3-(methoxymethyl)phenyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(3-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)nicotinamide, -   2-(4-(N-methylsulfamoyl)phenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide, -   2-(4-acetamidophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide, -   2-(4-aminophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide, -   2-(4-methoxycyclohexyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(tert-butyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-benzyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   2-ethyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-1′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-2′-one, -   2-isopropyl-3′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   2-isopropyl-5-methoxy-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxamide, -   2′-methyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-carboxamide, -   2-oxo-N-(4-piperidyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   3-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   3-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)propanamide, -   3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide, -   3-methoxy-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)isonicotinamide, -   4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide, -   4-(4-chlorobenzyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide, -   4-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   5-((1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-((5-aminoindolin-1-yl)methyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(2,4-difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2,5-difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-methylthiazol-5-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(3-phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(4-acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(4-pyrrol-1-yl-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   5-(5-aminoindolin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(5-bromo-1-oxo-isoindolin-2-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(benzimidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(benzyloxy)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(benzyloxy)-2-isopropyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   5-(indolin-1-ylsulfonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-[(1S,5R)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[(1S,5R)-8-acetyl-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(1-hydroxyethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)imidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(hydroxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(piperidine-1-carbonyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-[hydroxy(phenyl)methyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[4-(2-pyridyl)piperazin-1-yl]-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   5-amino-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide     hydrochloride, -   5-quinolin-5-yl-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   6-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   6-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   6-(2-(benzyloxy)phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   6-(4-fluorophenyl)-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one, -   6-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   6-chloro-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide, -   ethyl     1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate, -   ethyl     4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole)-5-sulfonamido)benzoate, -   ethyl     4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)ureido)benzoate, -   methyl     1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-5-carboxylate, -   methyl     1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate, -   methyl     1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-5-carboxylate, -   methyl     1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate, -   methyl     1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)indoline-4-carboxylate, -   methyl     1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate, -   methyl     2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate, -   methyl     2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate, -   methyl     2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate, -   methyl     2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylate, -   methyl     2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxylate, -   methyl     3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate, -   methyl     4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)benzoate, -   methyl     6-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)nicotinate, -   N-(1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide, -   N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide, -   N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)piperidin-4-yl)acetamide, -   N-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)furan-2-carboxamide, -   N-(1-acetyl-4-piperidyl)-2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonamide, -   N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-(2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)acetamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)benzamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-1-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-4-sulfamoylbenzamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-sulfonamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-sulfonamide, -   N-(3-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-(3-(oxazol-5-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-(4-(((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)amino)phenyl)acetamide, -   N-(4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)ureido)phenyl)acetamide, -   N,2-dimethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,N-dimethyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-[2-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]ethyl]acetamide, -   N2-methyl-N5-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)pyridine-2,5-dicarboxamide, -   N4-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide, -   N5-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3,4-dihydroquinoline-1,5(2H)-dicarboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-pyridyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-phenyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-propyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1-phenylcyclopropyl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanamide, -   N-methyl-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)oxy)benzamide, -   tert-butyl     (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate, -   tert-butyl     (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate, -   tert-butyl     4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-1-carboxylate,     and -   tert-butyl     4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)piperidine-1-carboxylate.

E4: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of formula I, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, for use as therapeutically active substance, selected from the group consisting of

-   1-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   1′,3′-dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   1-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   2-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-(3-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-ethyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-1′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   2-isopropyl-3′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxamide, -   3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide, -   5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-methylthiazol-5-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(3-phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(4-acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)imidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   6-(4-fluorophenyl)-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one, -   methyl     3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate, -   N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)piperidin-4-yl)acetamide, -   N-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)furan-2-carboxamide, -   N-(1-acetyl-4-piperidyl)-2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,2-dimethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,N-dimethyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-pyridyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-phenyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-propyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide,     and -   N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide.

E5: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to a compound of formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use as therapeutically active substance, wherein Z is absent.

E6: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to a compound of formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof,

-   -   wherein     -   X¹ is H or —C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   X² is H or —C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   W¹ is CH or N,     -   W² is CH or N,     -   W³ is CH or N,     -   and if one of W¹, W² or W³ is N, then the other two are CH,     -   Z is absent or selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—NR¹—(CH₂)₀₋₂—,         -   ii) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—C(═O)—(NR¹)₀₋₁,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₁₋₃—,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₂, and         -   v) —(NR¹)₀₋₁—SO_(0,2)—(NR¹)₀₋₁—,     -   R¹ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   A is selected from the group consisting of         -   i) aryl substituted with one or two R²,         -   ii) aryl,         -   iii) heteroaryl substituted with one or two R³         -   iv) heteroaryl,         -   v) heterocycloalkyl substituted with one or two R⁴, and         -   vi) heterocycloalkyl,     -   R² is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   x) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xi) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvi) -halogen,         -   xvii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xviii) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xix) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xx) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R³ is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heterocycloalkyl,         -   x) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xi) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xii) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiv) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xv) —C₁₋₆alkyl-N(R¹¹)—C(═O)—R¹²,         -   xvi) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xvii) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xviii) -halogen,         -   xix) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xx) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xxi) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xxii) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁴ is independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,         -   iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,         -   vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,         -   viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,         -   ix) ═O,         -   x) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl         -   xi) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),         -   xii) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xiii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   xiv) —C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,         -   xvi) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,         -   xvii) -halogen,         -   xviii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xix) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   xx) —N(R⁵,R⁶), and         -   xxi) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁵ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁶ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁷ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R⁸ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   or R⁷ and R⁸ form together with the nitrogen they are attached         to a heterocycloalkyl,     -   R⁹ is each independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   ii) C₁₋₆alkyl         -   iii) halogen,         -   iv) halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   v) heteroaryl, and         -   vi) heteroaryl substituted by C₁₋₆alkyl,     -   R¹⁰ is each independently selected from the group consisting of         -   i) C₁₋₆alkoxy,         -   ii) C₁₋₆alkyl,         -   iii) halogen, and         -   iv) halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl;     -   R¹¹ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl, and     -   R¹² is each independently selected from C₁₋₆alkyl and         C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,     -   with the proviso that         5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one and         5-(2-amino-N-methyl-anilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one are         excluded.

E7: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein X¹ and X² are each H.

E8: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein X¹ is H.

E9: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein X² is H.

E10: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein W¹, W² and W³ are each CH.

E11: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein W¹ is CH.

E12: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein W² is CH.

E13: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein W³ is CH.

E14: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein Z is —NR¹— and R¹ is H or C₁₋₆alkyl.

E15: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein Z is —NH—.

E16: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein A is phenyl substituted by —N(R⁵,R⁶), wherein R⁵ and R⁶ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl, and optionally further substituted by one R² selected from the group consisting of

i) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,

ii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—(C₃₋₇cycloalkyl)-aryl,

iii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,

iv) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,

v) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl substituted by R¹⁰,

vi) —(CH₂)₀₋₁—C₃₋₇cycloalkyl,

vii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl substituted by R⁹,

viii) —(CH₂)₀₋₁-heteroaryl,

ix) —C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,

x) —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸),

xi) —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl,

xii) —C₁₋₆alkoxy,

xiii) —C₁₋₆alkyl,

xiv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl substituted by R¹⁰,

xv) —CH₂—O—(CH₂)₀₋₁-aryl,

xvi) -halogen,

xvii) -halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl,

xviii) -hydroxy-C₁₋₆alkyl, and

xix) —NH—C(═O)C₁₋₆alkyl,

wherein R⁷, R⁸, R⁹ and R¹⁰ are defined as in any of the embodiments.

E17: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R² is —C(═O)—N(R⁷,R⁸) or —C(═O)OC₁₋₆alkyl, wherein R⁷ and R⁸ is each independently selected from H and C₁₋₆alkyl.

E18: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein A is selected from the group consisting of

-   -   i) phenyl substituted with one or two R²,     -   ii) phenyl,     -   iii) benzimidazolyl, pyridyl, thiazolyl, indolinyl, furan or         imidazolyl, each individually substituted with one or two R³     -   iv) benzimidazolyl, pyridyl, thiazolyl, indolinyl, furan or         imidazolyl,     -   v) piperazinyl, piperidyl or pyrrolidinyl, each individually         substituted with one or two R⁴, and     -   vi) piperazinyl, piperidyl or pyrrolidinyl.

wherein R², R³ and R⁴ are defined as in any of the embodiments.

E19: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R² is selected from the group consisting of acetyl, halogen, N(R⁵,R⁶), CON(R⁷,R⁸), COOC₁₋₆alkyl and NC(O)R¹⁰, wherein R⁵, R⁶, R⁷, R⁸ and R¹⁰ are defined as in any of the embodiments.

E20: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R² is selected from the group consisting of acetyl, Cl, NC(O)Me, NH₂, CON(H,Me) and COOMe.

E21: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R³ is selected from the group consisting of aryl, CON(R⁷,R⁸), C₁₋₆alkyl, —CH₂-aryl, halogen-C₁₋₆alkyl and heteroaryl.

E22: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R³ is selected from the group consisting of 1H-imidazolyl, CON(H,Me), Bz, CF₃, Et, isopropyl, Me, Ph, propyl, pyridinyl, quinolyl, CON(H,Et) and thiazolyl.

E23: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁴ is selected from the group consisting of acetyl and oxo.

E24: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁵ is H.

E25: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁶ is H.

E26: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁷ is H.

E27: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁸ is C₁₋₆alkyl.

E28: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁸ is Me or Et.

E29: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁹ is halogen, C₁₋₆alkyl or heteroaryl substituted by C₁₋₆alkyl.

E30: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein R⁹ is F, Cl, Me, isopropyl or methylimidazolyl.

E31: The compound of any one of the embodiments, wherein Z is —(CH₂)₃—, —C(═O)—, —C(═O)—NR¹—, NR¹, —NR¹—C(═O)—, wherein R¹ is defined as in any of the embodiments, in particular wherein R¹ is H.

E32: The compound of any one of the embodiments, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, any one of the embodiments, selected from the group consisting of

-   3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide, -   N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-ethyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,2-dimethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   methyl     3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-phenyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-pyridyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)imidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-propyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   1-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,N-dimethyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-methylthiazol-5-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(4-acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   N-(1-acetyl-4-piperidyl)-2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   N-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)furan-2-carboxamide, -   5-(3-phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   1-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   2-(3-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)piperidin-4-yl)acetamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxamide, -   1′,3′-dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   2-isopropyl-1′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   2-isopropyl-3′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   6-(4-fluorophenyl)-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one, -   5-(2,5-difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   5-(2,4-difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   5-[(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[4-(2-pyridyl)piperazin-1-yl]-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   5-(4-pyrrol-1-yl-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   5-quinolin-5-yl-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one, -   ethyl     4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole)-5-sulfonamido)benzoate, -   1-methyl-5-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   2-(2-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(tert-butyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   methyl     2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylate, -   methyl     2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxylate, -   1,3-dimethyl-5-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   2-oxo-N-(4-piperidyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   6-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   methyl     1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)indoline-4-carboxylate, -   6-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   2-(3-(methoxymethyl)phenyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-[(1S,5R)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxamide, -   5-[2-(hydroxymethyl)benzimidazol-1l-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   5-[(1S,5R)-8-acetyl-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-carboxamide, -   2-(4-aminophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   4-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   3-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   N-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide, -   2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-[2-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]ethyl]acetamide, -   N-methyl-3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanamide, -   methyl     1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate, -   5-(benzimidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-(1-hydroxyethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-[hydroxy(phenyl)methyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-(4-(phenylamino)phenyl)urea, -   1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-phenylurea, -   methyl     1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate, -   1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-carboxamide, -   methyl     1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-5-carboxylate, -   N4-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide, -   1-benzyl-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea, -   6-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   N-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   methyl     1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-5-carboxylate, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-4-sulfamoylbenzamide, -   N-(4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)ureido)phenyl)acetamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxamide, -   5-[2-(piperidine-1-carbonyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   6-(2-(benzyloxy)phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide, -   methyl     2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate, -   2-(2-methoxypyridin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N5-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3,4-dihydroquinoline-1,5(2H)-dicarboxamide, -   5-(5-bromo-1-oxo-isoindolin-2-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   ethyl     1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate, -   methyl     1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate, -   2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1-phenylcyclopropyl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   2-(1-(4-methoxyphenyl)cyclopropyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   5-(indolin-1-ylsulfonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonamide, -   methyl     4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)benzoate, -   tert-butyl     (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate, -   5-(benzyloxy)-2-isopropyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   5-amino-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide     hydrochloride, -   2′-methyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-carboxamide, -   2-benzyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide, -   2-isopropyl-5-methoxy-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one, -   tert-butyl     4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)piperidine-1-carboxylate, -   ethyl     4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)ureido)benzoate, -   1-(3-fluorophenyl)-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea, -   4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide, -   6-chloro-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide, -   N-(3-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-(4-methoxycyclohexyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide, -   3-methoxy-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)isonicotinamide, -   N2-methyl-N5-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)pyridine-2,5-dicarboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-sulfonamide, -   4-(4-chlorobenzyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)benzamide, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-sulfonamide, -   2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)nicotinamide, -   N-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-(5-aminoindolin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide, -   N-(3-(oxazol-5-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   tert-butyl     4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-1-carboxylate, -   N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide, -   1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide, -   N-(4-(((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)amino)phenyl)acetamide, -   N-(2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide, -   tert-butyl     (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate, -   5-((5-aminoindolin-1-yl)methyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   N-(1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide, -   methyl     2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate, -   5-((1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   methyl     6-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)nicotinate, -   5-(benzyloxy)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one, -   methyl     2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate,     and -   N-methyl-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)oxy)benzamide,

E33: The compound of any one of the embodiments, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, any one of the embodiments, selected from the group consisting of

-   3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide, -   N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-ethyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,2-dimethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   5-[2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   5-[2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one, -   methyl     3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-phenyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-pyridyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-propyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   1-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N,N-dimethyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   2-(3-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide,     and -   2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxamide.

E34: A compound, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, having a chemical structure comprising:

P-L-C

wherein

-   -   L is a linker group;     -   C is a compound of formula I according to any one of the         embodiments, wherein L is chemically linked to C; and     -   P is a protein target moiety that binds to a target protein or a         target polypeptide, wherein L is chemically linked to P.

E35: The compound according to any one of the embodiments, wherein L is selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   i) —NHCH₂—(CH₂)₁₋₃₀—CH₂NH—, and     -   ii) —NH—(CH₂CH₂O)₁₋₂₅—CH₂CH₂—NH—.

E36: The compound according to any one of the embodiments, wherein L is selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   i) —NHCH₂—(CH₂)₁₋₁₀—CH₂NH—, and     -   ii) —NH—(CH₂CH₂O)₁₋₅—CH₂CH₂—NH—.

E37: The compound according to any one of the embodiments, wherein P is a BRD4 inhibitor, in particular wherein P is

E38: The compound according to any one of the embodiments, selected from the group consisting of

-   N-[5-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca-2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]pentyl]-2-ethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide, -   N-[2-[2-[2-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca-2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethyl]-2-ethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide,     and -   N-[2-[2-[2-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca-2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide.

E39: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of formula I as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use as therapeutically active substance.

E40: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of formula I as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the use in the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer.

E41: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of formula I as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the manufacture of a medicament for the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer.

E42: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound of formula I as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable auxiliary substance.

E43: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to a method for the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer, by administering the compound of formula I as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, to a patient.

E44: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of P-L-C as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use as therapeutically active substance.

E45: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of P-L-C as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the use in the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer.

E46: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to the compound of P-L-C as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the manufacture of a medicament for the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer.

E47: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound of P-L-C as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable auxiliary substance, in particular an inert carrier.

E48: A certain embodiment of the invention relates to a method for the therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of cancer, by administering the compound of P-L-C as described herein, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, to a patient.

Furthermore, the invention includes all optical isomers, i.e. diastereoisomers, diastereomeric mixtures, racemic mixtures, all their corresponding enantiomers and/or tautomers as well as their solvates of the compounds of formula I.

The compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C may contain one or more asymmetric centers and can therefore occur as racemates, racemic mixtures, single enantiomers, diastereomeric mixtures and individual diastereomers. Additional asymmetric centers may be present depending upon the nature of the various substituents on the molecule. Each such asymmetric center will independently produce two optical isomers and it is intended that all of the possible optical isomers and diastereomers in mixtures and as pure or partially purified compounds are included within this invention. The present invention is meant to encompass all such isomeric forms of these compounds. The independent syntheses of these diastereomers or their chromatographic separations may be achieved as known in the art by appropriate modification of the methodology disclosed herein. Their absolute stereochemistry may be determined by the x-ray crystallography of crystalline products or crystalline intermediates which are derivatized, if necessary, with a reagent containing an asymmetric center of known absolute configuration. If desired, racemic mixtures of the compounds may be separated so that the individual enantiomers are isolated. The separation can be carried out by methods well known in the art, such as the coupling of a racemic mixture of compounds to an enantiomerically pure compound to form a diastereomeric mixture, followed by separation of the individual diastereomers by standard methods, such as fractional crystallization or chromatography.

In the embodiments, where optically pure enantiomers are provided, optically pure enantiomer means that the compound contains >90% of the desired isomer by weight, particularly >95% of the desired isomer by weight, or more particularly >99% of the desired isomer by weight, said weight percent based upon the total weight of the isomer(s) of the compound. Chirally pure or chirally enriched compounds may be prepared by chirally selective synthesis or by separation of enantiomers. The separation of enantiomers may be carried out on the final product or alternatively on a suitable intermediate.

The compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C may be prepared in accordance with the schemes described in the examples. The starting material is commercially available or may be prepared in accordance with known methods.

The preparation of compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C is further described in more detail in the schemes below.

The preparation of compounds of formula I of the present invention may be carried out in sequential or convergent synthetic routes. Syntheses of the compounds of the invention are shown in the following schemes 1-14 and in the description of 160 specific examples. The skills required for carrying out the reaction and purification of the resulting products are known to those skilled in the art. The substituents and indices used in the following description of the processes have the significance given herein before unless indicated to the contrary.

In more detail, the compounds of formula I can be manufactured by the methods given below, by the methods given in the examples or by analogous methods. Appropriate reaction conditions for the individual reaction steps are known to a person skilled in the art.

The reaction sequence is not limited to the one displayed in schemes 1-14, however, depending on the starting materials and their respective reactivity the sequence of reaction steps can be freely altered. Starting materials are either commercially available or can be prepared by methods analogous to the methods given below, by methods described in references cited in the description or in the examples, or by methods known in the art.

Step A:

Nitro-amino-arene compound 3 can be obtained by an aromatic nucleophilic substitution (S_(N)Ar) reaction between a 1,2-fluoro-nitro-arene 1 and an aromatic amine compound 2.

Examples of suitable 1,2-fluoro-nitro-arenes 1 include, but are not limited to, 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵, 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide⁴⁶, 3-fluoro-N-methyl-4-nitrobenzamide⁴⁷, methyl 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoate⁴⁸, methyl 3-fluoro-4-nitrobenzoate⁴⁹.

Examples of suitable aromatic amine compounds 2 include, but are not limited to, 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵⁰, 5-amino-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵¹, 6-amino-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵², 5-amino-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵³.

The S_(N)Ar reaction is carried out in the presence of an organic base such as N,N-diisopropylethylamine, triethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in a polar aprotic organic solvent such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone or N,N-dimethylformamide at elevated temperatures. Preferred conditions are N,N-diisopropylethylamine in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone at 120° C. overnight.

Step B:

Reduction of nitro-amino-arene compound 3 to diamino-arene 4 can be effected by hydrogenation with hydrogen under normal or elevated pressure in the presence of a catalyst such as PtO₂, Pd—C or Raney nickel in polar solvents such as MeOH, EtOH, dioxane, THF, or mixtures thereof.

Preferred conditions are 1 atm of hydrogen in the presence of 10% palladium on charcoal in a mixture of methanol and THF at room temperature overnight.

Step C:

Benzimidazole 7 can be obtained by cyclisation of diamino-arene 4 with an aldehyde 5 in the presence of sodium metabisulfite. The cyclisation reaction is carried out in a polar aprotic organic solvent such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone or N,N-dimethylformamide at elevated temperatures. Preferred conditions are N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone at 120° C. for 3-18 hours.

Benzimidazole 7 can also be obtained by cyclisation of diamino-arene 4 with a carboxylic acid 6 in the presence of another acid. The cyclisation reaction is carried out in an aqueous solution of a strong acid such as HCl or H₂SO₄. Preferred conditions are 6 M aq. HCl at 120° C. for 12-48 hours.

Step A:

Ester compound 8 can be hydrolysed to carboxylic acid 9 by treatment with an aqueous base such as lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. The hydrolysis reaction is carried out in a mixture of water and a polar ethereal solvent such as dioxane, THF, DME or TBME at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours. Preferred conditions are 1 M aq. LiOH solution in 1,4-dioxane at room temperature for 3 h.

Step B:

Amide bond formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between carboxylic acid 9 and a primary or secondary amine 10 in the presence of a coupling reagent such as DMTMM, DCC, EDC, TBTU or HATU in the presence of an organic base such as triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Preferred conditions are HATU with N,N-diisopropylethylamine in a mixture of THF and N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature for 3 hours.

Step A:

Suzuki-Miyaura coupling between a suitable aryl bromide or aryl iodide 12 and an aryl or heteroaryl boronic acid 13a, or the corresponding aryl or heteroaryl boronate 13b, can be accomplished by treatment with a palladium catalyst, a phosphine ligand, and a base such as K₂CO₃, Na₂CO₃, Cs₂CO₃, K₂HPO₄, KO^(t)Bu, in solvents such as DMF, acetonitrile, DMSO, THF, DME, toluene, 1,4-dioxane, H₂O or mixtures thereof, at room temperature to elevated temperatures.

Examples of suitable aryl halide compounds 12 include, but are not limited to, 5-bromo-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵⁴ or 5-iodo-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵⁵.

Preferred conditions are catalytic [1,1-bis(diphenyl-phosphino)ferrocene]dichloropalladium(II) and aq. sodium carbonate in dioxane at 100° C. for 18 hours.

Step A:

Amide bond formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between a suitable carboxylic acid 15 and a primary or secondary amine 16 in the presence of a coupling reagent such as DCC, EDC, TBTU or HATU in the presence of an organic base such as triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Examples of suitable carboxylic acids 15 include, but are not limited to, 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid⁵⁶.

Preferred conditions are HATU with N,N-diisopropylethylamine in N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature for 4 hours.

Step A:

Amide bond formation can alternatively be accomplished by a coupling reaction between a suitable carboxylic acid ester 18 and a primary or secondary amine 16 in the presence of trimethylaluminium in nonpolar aprotic solvents such as benzene, xylene or toluene at elevated temperatures for 1-3 hours.

Examples of suitable carboxylic acid esters 18 include, but are not limited to, methyl 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylate⁵⁷ and ethyl 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylate⁵⁸.

Preferred conditions are trimethylaluminium in toluene at 110° C. for 2 hours.

Step A:

Amide bond formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between a suitable amine 19 and a carboxylic acid 20 in the presence of a coupling reagent such as DCC, EDC, TBTU or HATU in the presence of an organic base such as triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Examples of suitable amines 19 include, but are not limited to, 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰.

Preferred conditions are HATU with N,N-diisopropylethylamine in N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature for 2 hours.

Step A:

Urea formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between a suitable aromatic amine 19 and a primary or secondary amine 16 mediated by triphosgene 22. The reaction involves sequential treatment of the aromatic amine 19 with triphosgene 22 to form the corresponding aryl-isocyanate intermediate which is then reacted in situ with the primary or secondary amine 16 to afford urea 23. The reaction is carried out in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME, optionally in the presence of a base such as triethylamine or N,N-diisopropylethylamine.

Examples of suitable amines 19 include, but are not limited to, 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰.

Preferred conditions are triethylamine in THF at room temperature for 1 hours for the first step (formation of aryl-isocyanate intermediate from aromatic amine 19), and at room temperature for 3 hours for the second step (reaction of aryl-isocyanate intermediate with primary or secondary amine 16 to form urea 23).

Step A:

Sulphonamide formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between a suitable aromatic amine 19 and a sulphonyl chloride 24. The reaction is carried out in the presence of an organic base such as pyridine, triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide, or aromatic solvents such as pyridine or toluene at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Examples of suitable amines 19 include, but are not limited to, 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰.

Preferred conditions are pyridine (as base and solvent) at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step A:

Sulphonamide formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between a suitable sulphonyl chloride 26 and a primary or secondary amine 16. The reaction is carried out in the presence of an organic base such as pyridine, triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide, or aromatic solvents such as pyridine or toluene at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Examples of suitable sulphonyl chloride 26 include, but are not limited to, 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonyl chloride⁵⁹.

Preferred conditions are pyridine (as base and solvent) at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step A:

Amine 29 can be prepared by a reduction amination reaction involving treatment of a suitable aromatic aldehyde 28 with a primary or secondary amine 16 in the presence of a Bronsted acid or Lewis acid so as to form the corresponding imine compound, with in situ treatment with a reducing agent such as sodium triacetoxyborohydride or sodium cyanoborohydride. The reaction is carried out in alcoholic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol.

Examples of suitable aromatic aldehydes 28 include, but are not limited to, 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbaldehyde⁶⁰.

Preferred conditions are zinc chloride and sodium cyanoborohydride in methanol at 60° C. for 3 h.

Step A:

Imidazole 31 can be obtained by reaction of a suitable aldehyde 30 with aqueous ammonia in a polar solvent such as methanol, ethanol, water or a mixture thereof followed by treatment with oxalaldehyde. Preferred conditions are aqueous methanol at room temperature for 72 hours.

Step B:

Nitro-amino-arene compound 33 can be obtained by an aromatic nucleophilic substitution (S_(N)Ar) reaction between 5-fluoro-2-nitroaniline⁶¹ 32 and imidazole compound 31.

The S_(N)Ar reaction is carried out in the presence of a strong non-nucleophilic base such as sodium hydride or potassium hydride in a polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide at elevated temperatures. Preferred conditions are deprotonation of imidazole compound 31 with sodium hydride in N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature followed by reaction with 5-fluoro-2-nitroaniline at 60° C. overnight.

Step C:

Reduction of nitro-amino-arene compound 33 to diamino-arene 34 can be effected by hydrogenation with hydrogen under normal or elevated pressure in the presence of a catalyst such as PtO₂, Pd—C or Raney nickel in polar solvents such as MeOH, EtOH, dioxane, THF, or mixtures thereof.

Preferred conditions are 1 atm of hydrogen in the presence of 10% palladium on charcoal in a mixture of methanol and THF at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step D:

Dihydrobenzimidazolone 35 can be obtained by cyclisation of diamino-arene 34 with di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methanone. The cyclisation reaction is carried out in a polar organic ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME at elevated temperatures. Preferred conditions are THF at room temperature for 18 hours.

Step A:

Di-nitro-arene compound 37 can be obtained by an aromatic nucleophilic substitution (S_(N)Ar) reaction between 4-fluoro-1,2-dinitrobenzene⁶² 36 and a primary or secondary amine 16. The S_(N)Ar reaction is carried out in the presence of an organic base such as triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in a polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide or acetonitrile.

Preferred conditions are N,N-diisopropylethylamine in acetonitrile at room temperature overnight.

Step B:

Reduction of Di-nitro-arene compound 37 to diamino-arene 38 can be effected by hydrogenation with hydrogen under normal or elevated pressure in the presence of a catalyst such as PtO₂, Pd—C or Raney nickel in polar solvents such as MeOH, EtOH, dioxane, THF, or mixtures thereof.

Preferred conditions are 1 atm of hydrogen in the presence of 10% palladium on charcoal in a mixture of ethanol and THF at room temperature overnight.

Step C:

Dihydrobenzimidazolone 39 can be obtained by cyclisation of diamino-arene 38 with di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methanone. The cyclisation reaction is carried out in a polar organic ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME at elevated temperatures. Preferred conditions are THF at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step A:

Amine-ester 42 can be obtained by an alkylation reaction between a benzyl bromide 40 and an aromatic amine compound 41 in the presence of a base such as triethylamine or potassium carbonate in solvents such as acetonitrile, methanol, DME, DMF and DMSO at room temperature to elevated temperatures.

Examples of suitable benzyl bromides 40 include, but are not limited to, dimethyl 2-(bromomethyl)benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate⁶³ and methyl 4-bromo-2-(bromomethyl)benzoate¹⁶⁰

Examples of suitable aromatic amine compounds 41 include, but are not limited to, 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-one⁵⁰.

Preferred conditions are triethylamine in methanol at 25° C. for 12 hours.

Step B:

Cyclisation can be performed by heating amine-ester 42 at elevated temperature in presence of a base such as sodium methanolate or potassium carbonate in solvents such as methanol or ethanol.

Preferred conditions are potassium carbonate in methanol at 80° C. for 2 hours.

As an illustrative example, degrader compounds targeting the BET bromodomain BRD4 can be prepared based on the known BRD4 ligand JQ1^(64,65). The synthesis starts from the corresponding carboxylic acid derivative 44⁶⁶.

Step A:

Amide bond formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between carboxylic acid 44 and a linker-containing compound 45 bearing a terminal amine functionality and a terminal BOC-protected amine functionality. The reaction is carried out in the presence of a coupling reagent such as DCC, EDC, TBTU or HATU in the presence of an organic base such as triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine, N-methylmorpholine or 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Preferred conditions are 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) with 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine (4-DMAP) in dichloromethane at room temperature for 48 hours.

Step B:

Removal of the Boc N-protecting group of 46 can be effected with mineral acids such as HCl, H₂SO₄ or H₃PO₄ or organic acids such as CF₃COOH, CHCl₂COOH, HOAc or p-toluenesulfonic acid in solvents such as CH₂Cl₂, CHCl₃, THF, Dioxane, MeOH, EtOH or H₂O at 0° C. to reflux temperature.

Preferred conditions are 4 M HCl in dioxane at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step C:

Ester compound 8 (Scheme 2) can be hydrolysed to carboxylic acid 9 by treatment with an aqueous base such as lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. The hydrolysis reaction is carried out in a mixture of water and an alcohol solvent such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol or n-butanol, or a polar ethereal solvent such as dioxane, THF, DME or TBME, or a mixture therefore, at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Preferred conditions are 1 M aq. LiOH solution in MeOH and THF at room temperature for 48 h.

Step D:

Amide bond formation can be accomplished by a coupling reaction between carboxylic acid 9 and amine 47 in the presence of a coupling reagent such as DCC, EDC, TBTU or HATU in the presence of an organic base such as triethylamine, N,N-diisopropylethylamine or N-methylmorpholine in halogenated solvents such as dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane or ethereal solvents such as diethyl ether, dioxane, THF, DME or TBME or polar non-protic organic solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature or at elevated temperatures for 2-18 hours.

Preferred conditions are HATU with N,N-diisopropylethylamine in N,N-dimethylformamide at room temperature for 4 hours.

Isolation and Purification of the Compounds

Isolation and purification of the compounds and intermediates described herein can be effected, if desired, by any suitable separation or purification procedure such as, for example, filtration, extraction, crystallization, column chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, thick-layer chromatography, preparative low or high-pressure liquid chromatography or a combination of these procedures. Specific illustrations of suitable separation and isolation procedures can be had by reference to the preparations and examples herein below. However, other equivalent separation or isolation procedures could, of course, also be used. Racemic mixtures of chiral compounds of formula I can be separated using chiral HPLC. Racemic mixtures of chiral synthetic intermediates may also be separated using chiral HPLC.

In cases where the compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C are basic they may be converted to a corresponding acid addition salt. The conversion is accomplished by treatment with at least a stoichiometric amount of an appropriate acid, such as hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid and the like, and organic acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid, glycolic acid, pyruvic acid, oxalic acid, malic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, benzoic acid, cinnamic acid, mandelic acid, methanesulfonic acid, ethanesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, salicylic acid and the like. Typically, the free base is dissolved in an inert organic solvent such as diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform, ethanol or methanol and the like, and the acid added in a similar solvent. The temperature is maintained between 0° C. and 50° C. The resulting salt precipitates spontaneously or may be brought out of solution with a less polar solvent.

Insofar as their preparation is not described in the examples, the compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C as well as all intermediate products can be prepared according to analogous methods or according to the methods set forth herein. Starting materials are commercially available, known in the art or can be prepared by methods known in the art or in analogy thereto.

It will be appreciated that the compounds of general formula I or formula P-L-C in this invention may be derivatised at functional groups to provide derivatives which are capable of conversion back to the parent compound in vivo.

Pharmacological Tests

The compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts possess valuable pharmacological properties. The compounds were investigated in accordance with the test given hereinafter.

Dual Fluorescent Reporter Assay

In order to measure BRD4 protein abundance in a mammalian cell system at medium throughput, a dual fluorescent reporter system was developed based on a principle described in¹. Transient expression vectors were designed that contain the BRD4 coding sequence (NM_058243.2) fused to a fluorescent tag. Vectors were synthesized at ATUM (Newark, Calif., USA) using the pD2610 CMV backbone and were built up as follows: c-terminal version BRD4 eGFP—IRES—FresnoRFP_NLS, n-terminal version eGFP_BRD4—IRES—FresnoRFP_NLS, empty vector control eGFP—IRES—FresnoRFP_NLS. The c-terminal version was used for the reporter assays, as it presented with the best assay window. HEK293A cells (Invitrogen, Cat. No. R705-07) were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM), 10% fetal calf serum, 2 mM L-Glutamine, 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin. Transfections of the plasmids were performed with Lipofectamine 2000 according to the manufacturer's protocol (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA). 40 hours after transfection, cells were seeded at a density of 40′000/100 ul/96 well flat-bottom and 8 hours later treated with compounds (stocks 10 mM in DMSO) at a 10-point dilution ranging from 0-25 μM. After 16 hours of treatment, cells were washed with PBS, resuspended in Accumax solution⁶⁷ and analyzed by flow-cytometry (CytoFlex S, BeckmanCoulter). Single cells were gated based on their forward and side-scatter profiles and pulse-width was used to exclude doublets. A minimum of 20′000 cells was acquired per sample. Analysis was performed with the program Flow Jo V10.1 on BRD4-eGFP low/medium cells (<10⁶ FL1-A Mean Fluorescence Intensity (MFI)). A factor was derived to normalize BRD4-eGFP values to the RFP protein abundance control (20×FL1A-GFP/FL11A-RFP), then Median and Mode values were calculated and used for comparisons between treatment conditions.

Capillary-Based Immunoassays to Measure Endogenous BRD4 Levels

The biological activity of selected compounds (cut-off >20% reduction in BRD4-eGFP levels) was confirmed in an additional assay which allowed the quantification of endogenous BRD4 levels. To this end, HEK293A cells (origin and culture conditions see above) were seeded at 400′000/300 ul/48 well and were treated 6 hours later with compound concentrations as indicated for. 16 hours after the treatment, the cells were washed with PBS and lysed in 50 ul of UREA lysis buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8, 2% CHAPS, 7M UREA, 0.4% DTT), supplemented with 1× protease inhibitor cocktail (Complete Mini, Roche) and 1× phosphatase inhibitor cocktail (PhosSTOP, Sigma-Aldrich). Samples were then analyzed by Peggy Sue or WES capillary-based immunoassay systems according to the manufacturer's protocol (Protein Simple/Bio-Techne, San Jose, Calif., 95134 USA). Antibodies used were anti-BRD4 (Cell signaling, CST 13440 1:50) and anti-Vinculin (Sigma, V9131, 1:4000). To quantify BRD4 protein levels, the peak signal areas were normalized to the vinculin loading control and to the DMSO condition.

Further, please see Yen et al.⁶⁸.

Fluorescence Direct Binding Protocol

Principle

Determination of the affinities of compounds to protein containing one or more tryptophan is measurable by monitoring the fluorescence emission in direct mode. The measurements depending on the protein available amounts are performed either manually in a cuvette on ISS-PC1 photon counting spectrofluorometer or automatically in well plates on a fluorescence plate reader device. Fluorescence titrations are performed at 20° C. in the chosen binding assay buffer by using a defined constant protein concentration against ligand concentration variations. Small aliquots of known ligand concentration solubilized in DMSO were added and the fluorescence, excited at 280 nm, was recorded at 340 nm. The fluorescence intensity was corrected for protein dilution and for the filter effect (Birdsall et al.⁶⁹). The corrected fluorescence intensity was plotted against the ligand concentration and fitted using a four-parameter sigmoidal function, from which the equilibrium dissociation constant Kd was computed using the law of mass action assuming a 1:1 protein-ligand complex (Eftink, 1997⁷⁰).

Process

1) Optimization of measurement parameters to minimize protein consumption and to minimize the dilution effect and the DMSO content

2) Titration measurements of the protein against ligand by at least 12 titration steps to obtain a good s-curve fit

3) Repeat the same titration measurements with the ligand alone to enable correction

4) Check the stability of the protein once by titration against DMSO alone

5) Determination of the molar extinction coefficients of the ligand at 280 and 340 nm with help of an UV-spectrophotometer

6) Use Excel template for the correction of the measured raw data

7) Use GraphPad Prism software for the quadratic binding fit and the KD evaluation.

Experimental Details

TABLE 1 Protein - buffers, Reference compound: thalidomide, Contergan, Softenon Protein Batch # Cereblon_17_13 Construct name hCereblon(M1-L442)_hDDB1(M1-H1140) Concentration 2.54 mg/ml MW 180180 Da Molar extinction ε₂₈₀ = 165045 M⁻¹ · cm⁻¹ coefficient Storage buffer 20 mM MES pH 6.5 200 mM NaCl 1 mM TCEP Assay buffer 50 mM Hepes 7.4 200 mM NaCl

TABLE 2 Settings Device ISS-PC1 Excitation wavelength [nm] 280 Emission wavelength [nm] 340 Cuvette Hellma 115F-QS Volume [μL] 500

TABLE 3 Protein preparation Volume Protein [μL] Volume buffer [μL] Protein concentration [M] 1.8 @ 2.54 mg/ml 498.2 5.0 E−8

TABLE 4 Titration steps C Lig C Aliquot V Aliquot C Prot Dilution [M] [M] [μL] [M] factor     1E−10 1.0−07 0.5 4.995E−08 1.001   1.1E−09 1.0E−06 0.5 4.990E−08 1.002   3.1E−09 1.0E−06 1 4.980E−08 1.004   5.1E−09 1.0E−06 1 4.970E−08 1.006   1.51E−08 1.0E−05 0.5 4.965E−08 1.007   2.51E−08 1.0E−05 0.5 4.960E−08 1.008   4.51E−08 1.0E−05 1 4.950E−08 1.01   6.51E−08 1.0E−05 1 4.941E−08 1.012  1.651E−07 1.0E−04 0.5 4.936E−08 1.013  3.651E−07 1.0E−04 1 4.926E−08 1.015  5.651E−07 1.0E−04 1 4.916E−08 1.017  7.651E−07 1.0E−04 1 4.907E−08 1.019  9.651E−07 1.0E−04 1 4.897E−08 1.021  1.9651E−06 1.0E−03 0.5 4.892E−08 1.022  2.9651E−06 1.0E−03 0.5 4.888E−08 1.023 1.29651E−05 1.0E−02 0.5 4.883E−08 1.024 2.29651E−05 1.0E−02 0.5 4.878E−08 1.025 4.29651E−05 1.0E−02 1 4.869E−08 1.027 6.29651E−05 1.0E−02 1 4.859E−08 1.029 8.29651E−05 1.0E−02 1 4.850E−08 1.031

TABLE 5 affinities of examples to protein Fluorescence h-Cereblon_DDB1 Mean Example Name K_(d)_EQ (μm) 1 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.587 yl)amino]benzamide 2 N-methyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]-1-(2- 0.028 oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5- carboxamide 3 N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4- 0.039 quinolyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 4 2-ethyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.036 yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 5 N,2-dimethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.180 yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 6 5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 0.054 7 5-[2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3- 0.027 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 8 5-[2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4- 0.006 quinolyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2- one 9 methyl 3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.029 yl)amino]benzoate 10 N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2- 0.088 phenyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 11 N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4- 0.008 pyridyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 12 5-[2-(4-quinolyl)imidazol-1-yl]-1,3- 0.001 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 13 N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2- 0.007 (trifluoromethyl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 14 N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2- 0.321 propyl-benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 15 2-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3- 0.049 dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 16 2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3- 0.011 dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 17 1-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)-N-methyl-2- 0.042 [2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]benzimidazole-5- carboxamide 18 N,N-dimethyl-2-[2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)-4-quinolyl]- 0.016 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5- carboxamide 19 5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 0.007 20 5-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 0.068 21 5-(2-methylthiazol-5-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 0.005 22 5-(4-acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-1,3- 0.103 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 23 N-(1-acetyl-4-piperidyl)-2-oxo-1,3- 0.003 dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide 24 5-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 0.001 25 N-(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)furan-2- 0.111 carboxamide 26 5-(3-phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin- 0.041 2-one 27 1-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6- 0.001 carboxamide 28 2-(3-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H- 0.012 [1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 29 N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5- 0.020 carbonyl)piperidin-4-yl)acetamide 30 2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′- 0.001 bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxamide 31 1′,3′-dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin- 0.007 4-yl)-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one 32 5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.006 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 33 5-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.024 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 34 2-isopropyl-1′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′- 0.019 bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one 35 2-isopropyl-3′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′- 0.024 bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one 36 6-(4-fluorophenyl)-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2- 0.077 one 37 5-(2,5-difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one 0.010 38 5-(2,4-difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one 0.082 39 5-[(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol- 0.006 2-one 40 5-[4-(2-pyridyl)piperazin-1-yl]-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5- 0.007 b]pyridin-2-one 41 5-(4-pyrrol-1-yl-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2- 0.018 one 42 5-quinolin-5-yl-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one 0.336 43 ethyl 4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole)-5- 0.100 sulfonamido)benzoate 44 1-methyl-5-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one <0.001 45 2-(2-methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H- 0.022 [1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 46 2-(tert-butyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′- 0.010 bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 47 methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′- 0.020 bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylate 48 methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihyrdro-1′H-[1,5′- 0.011 bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxylate 49 1,3-dimethyl-5-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.023 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 50 5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.011 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 51 2-oxo-N-(4-piperidyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5- 0.138 carboxamide 52 6-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.006 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 53 5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.049 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 54 methyl 1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5- 0.025 carbonyl)indoline-4-carboxylate 55 6-(indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5- <0.001 b]pyridin-2-one 56 N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.002 imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide 57 2-(3-(methoxymethyl)phenyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′- 0.007 dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 58 5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2- 0.012 one 59 5-[rac-(1S,5R)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3- 0.006 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 60 2-isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′- 0.047 bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxamide 61 5-[2-(hydroxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3- 0.029 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 62 5-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H- <0.001 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 63 5-[rac-(1S,5R)-8-acetyl-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3- 0.079 yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 64 N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)-2′,3′- 0.045 dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 65 N-methyl-2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′- 0.009 dihydro-1′H-[1,5′'-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 66 N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H- 0.051 [1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 67 2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine- 0.005 6-carboxamide 68 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.009 yl)benzofuran-3-carboxamide 69 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2,3- 0.029 dihydro-1H-indene-1-carboxamide 70 2-(4-aminophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.001 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide 71 (S)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)- 0.016 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxamide 72 (R)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)- 0.014 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxamide 73 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.011 yl)benzamide 74 4-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.002 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide 75 3-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.007 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide 76 N-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5- 0.041 b]pyridine-6-carboxamide 77 2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5- 0.042 carboxamide 78 2-(4-acetamidophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.023 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide 79 2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5- 0.004 b]pyridin-6-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide 80 N-[2-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.015 yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]ethyl]acetamide 81 N-methyl-3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.004 yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanamide 82 methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.003 yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate 83 5-(benzimidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 0.003 84 5-[2-(1-hydroxyethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3- 0.003 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 85 5-[2-[hydroxy(phenyl)methyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3- 0.003 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 86 N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro- 0.004 1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide 87 1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-(4- 0.027 (phenylamino)phenyl)urea 88 1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3- 0.017 phenylurea 89 methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.025 yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate 90 3-acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.019 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)propanamide 91 1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.005 yl)piperidine-4-carboxamide 92 methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.033 5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-5-carboxylate 93 N4-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.010 5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide 94 1-benzyl-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- <0.001 yl)urea 95 6-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro- 0.020 2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one 96 N-methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.009 benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide 97 5-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro- 0.009 2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 98 methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.086 yl)carbamoyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-5-carboxylate 99 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2-(4- 0.046 sulfamoylphenyl)acetamide 100 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-4- 0.029 sulfamoylbenzamide 101 N-(4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.014 yl)ureido)phenyl)acetamide 102 N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.130 yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxamide 103 5-[2-(piperidine-1-carbonyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3- 0.035 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 104 6-(2-(benzyloxy)phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5- 0.014 b]pyridin-2-one 105 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.004 yl)indoline-1-carboxamide 106 2-(4-(N-methylsulfamoyl)phenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro- 0.001 1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide 107 methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)- 0.831 2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5- carboxylate 108 2-(2-methoxy pyridin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′- 0.107 dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 109 N5-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.039 5-yl)-3,4-dihydroquinoline-1,5(2H)-dicarboxamide 110 5-(5-bromo-1-oxo-isoindolin-2-yl)-1,3- 0.029 dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one 111 ethyl 1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.018 yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate 112 methyl 1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- 0.057 yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate 113 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo- 0.899 2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5- carboxamide 114 N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1-phenylcyclopropyl)-2′,3′-dihydro- 0.008 1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 115 2-(1-(4-methoxyphenyl)cyclopropyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo- 0.096 2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5- carboxamide 116 5-(indolin-1-ylsulfonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.048 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 117 N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.008 benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonamide 118 methyl 4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.082 yl)sulfamoyl)benzoate 119 tert-butyl (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.113 5-yl)carbamoyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate 120 5-(benzyloxy)-2-isopropyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′- 0.194 bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one 121 5-amino-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.065 yl)indoline-1-carboxamide hydrochloride 122 2′-methyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.730 yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-carboxamide 123 2-benzyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.022 yl)benzamide 124 2-isopropyl-5-methoxy-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′- 0.013 bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one 125 tert-butyl 4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.020 5-yl)sulfamoyl)piperidine-1-carboxylate 126 ethyl 4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.009 yl)ureido)benzoate 127 1-(3-fluorophenyl)-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.026 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea 128 4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.014 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide 129 6-chloro-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.188 yl)indoline-1-carboxamide 130 N-(3-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3- 0.781 dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide 131 2-(4-methoxycyclohexyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro- 0.010 1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide 132 3-methoxy-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- <0.001 5-yl)isonicotinamide 133 N2-methyl-N5-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.121 5-yl)pyridine-2,5-dicarboxamide 134 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.007 yl)piperidine-4-sulfonamide 135 4-(4-chlorobenzyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.007 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide 136 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2- 0.079 (pyridin-4-yl)benzamide 137 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.022 yl)benzofuran-3-sulfonamide 138 2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.109 benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)nicotinamide 139 N-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.004 benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide 140 5-(5-aminoindolin-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.168 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 141 N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.053 yl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide 142 N-(3-(oxazol-5-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.011 benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide 143 tert-butyl 4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.159 yl)carbamoyl)indoline-1-carboxylate 144 N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.029 yl)indoline-4-carboxamide 145 1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.084 yl)indoline-4-carboxamide 146 N-(4-(((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.018 yl)methyl)amino)phenyl)acetamide 147 N-(2-(methylcarbamoyl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H- 0.338 benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide 148 tert-butyl (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol- 0.019 5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate 149 5-((5-aminoindolin-1-yl)methyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.017 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 150 N-(1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.003 yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide 151 methyl 2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.052 yl)carbamoyl)benzoate 152 5-((1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H- 0.021 benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 153 methyl 6-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.016 yl)amino)nicotinate 154 5-(benzyloxy)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one 0.017 155 methyl 2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.029 yl)methyl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate 156 N-methyl-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5- 0.022 yl)oxy)benzamide A N-[5-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3- 0.055 thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca- 2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]pentyl]-2- ethyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5- yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide B N-[2-[2-[2-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl- 0.051 3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca- 2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9- yl]acetyl]amino]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethyl]-2-ethyl-1-(2-oxo- 1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-5- carboxamide C N-[2-[2-[2-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl- 0.019 3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca- 2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9- yl]acetyl]amino]ethoxy]ethoxy]ethyl]-1-(2-oxo-1,3- dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-quinolyl)benzimidazole- 5-carboxamide D N4-[5-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3- 0.007 thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca- 2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]pentyl]-N1-(2- oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4- dicarboxamide

Pharmaceutical Compositions

The compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts can be used as therapeutically active substances, e.g. in the form of pharmaceutical preparations. The pharmaceutical preparations can be administered orally, e.g. in the form of tablets, coated tablets, dragees, hard and soft gelatin capsules, solutions, emulsions or suspensions. The administration can, however, also be effected rectally, e.g. in the form of suppositories, or parenterally, e.g. in the form of injection solutions.

The compounds of formula I or formula P-L-C and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof can be processed with pharmaceutically inert, inorganic or organic carriers for the production of pharmaceutical preparations. Lactose, corn starch or derivatives thereof, talc, stearic acids or its salts and the like can be used, for example, as such carriers for tablets, coated tablets, dragees and hard gelatin capsules. Suitable carriers for soft gelatin capsules are, for example, vegetable oils, waxes, fats, semi-solid and liquid polyols and the like. Depending on the nature of the active substance no carriers are however usually required in the case of soft gelatin capsules. Suitable carriers for the production of solutions and syrups are, for example, water, polyols, glycerol, vegetable oil and the like. Suitable carriers for suppositories are, for example, natural or hardened oils, waxes, fats, semi-liquid or liquid polyols and the like.

The pharmaceutical preparations can, moreover, contain pharmaceutically acceptable auxiliary substances such as preservatives, solubilizers, stabilizers, wetting agents, emulsifiers, sweeteners, colorants, flavorants, salts for varying the osmotic pressure, buffers, masking agents or antioxidants. They can also contain still other therapeutically valuable substances.

Medicaments containing a compound of formula I or formula P-L-C or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and a therapeutically inert carrier are also provided by the present invention, as is a process for their production, which comprises bringing one or more compounds of formula I and/or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and, if desired, one or more other therapeutically valuable substances into a galenical administration form together with one or more therapeutically inert carriers.

The dosage can vary within wide limits and will, of course, have to be adjusted to the individual requirements in each particular case. In the case of oral administration the dosage for adults can vary from about 0.01 mg to about 1000 mg per day of a compound of general formula I or of the corresponding amount of a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The daily dosage may be administered as single dose or in divided doses and, in addition, the upper limit can also be exceeded when this is found to be indicated.

The following examples illustrate the present invention without limiting it, but serve merely as representative thereof. The pharmaceutical preparations conveniently contain about 1-500 mg, particularly 1-100 mg, of a compound of formula I or formula P-L-C. Examples of compositions according to the invention are:

Example A

Tablets of the following composition are manufactured in the usual manner:

TABLE 6 possible tablet composition mg/tablet ingredient 5 25 100 500 Compound of formula I or formula 5 25 100 500 P-L-C Lactose Anhydrous DTG 125 105 30 150 Sta-Rx 1500 6 6 6 60 Microcrystalline Cellulose 30 30 30 450 Magnesium Stearate 1 1 1 1 Total 167 167 167 831

Manufacturing Procedure

1. Mix ingredients 1, 2, 3 and 4 and granulate with purified water.

2. Dry the granules at 50° C.

3. Pass the granules through suitable milling equipment.

4. Add ingredient 5 and mix for three minutes; compress on a suitable press.

Example B-1

Capsules of the following composition are manufactured:

TABLE 7 possible capsule ingredient composition mg/capsule ingredient 5 25 100 500 Compound of formula I or formula 5 25 100 500 P-L-C Hydrous Lactose 159 123 148 — Corn Starch 25 35 40 70 Talk 10 15 10 25 Magnesium Stearate 1 2 2 5 Total 200 200 300 600

Manufacturing Procedure

1. Mix ingredients 1, 2 and 3 in a suitable mixer for 30 minutes.

2. Add ingredients 4 and 5 and mix for 3 minutes.

3. Fill into a suitable capsule.

The compound of formula I or formula P-L-C, lactose and corn starch are firstly mixed in a mixer and then in a comminuting machine. The mixture is returned to the mixer; the talc is added thereto and mixed thoroughly. The mixture is filled by machine into suitable capsules, e.g. hard gelatin capsules.

Example B-2

Soft Gelatin Capsules of the following composition are manufactured:

TABLE 8 possible soft gelatin capsule ingredient composition ingredient mg/capsule Compound of formula I or formula P-L-C  5 Yellow wax  8 Hydrogenated Soya bean oil  8 Partially hydrogenated plant oils  34 Soya bean oil 110 Total 165

TABLE 9 possible soft gelatin capsule composition ingredient mg/capsule Gelatin 75 Glycerol 85% 32 Karion 83 8 (dry matter) Titan dioxide 0.4 Iron oxide yellow 1.1 Total 116.5

Manufacturing Procedure

The compound of formula I or formula P-L-C is dissolved in a warm melting of the other ingredients and the mixture is filled into soft gelatin capsules of appropriate size. The filled soft gelatin capsules are treated according to the usual procedures.

Example C

Suppositories of the following composition are manufactured:

TABLE 10 possible suppository composition ingredient mg/supp. Compound of formula I or formula P-L-C  15 Suppository mass 1285 Total 1300

Manufacturing Procedure

The suppository mass is melted in a glass or steel vessel, mixed thoroughly and cooled to 45° C. Thereupon, the finely powdered compound of formula I or formula P-L-C is added thereto and stirred until it has dispersed completely. The mixture is poured into suppository moulds of suitable size, left to cool; the suppositories are then removed from the moulds and packed individually in wax paper or metal foil.

Example D

Injection solutions of the following composition are manufactured:

TABLE 11 possible injection solution composition ingredient mg/injection solution. Compound of formula I or formula P-L-C  3 Polyethylene Glycol 400 150 acetic acid q.s. ad pH 5.0 water for injection solutions ad 1.0 ml

Manufacturing Procedure

The compound of formula I or formula P-L-C is dissolved in a mixture of Polyethylene Glycol 400 and water for injection (part). The pH is adjusted to 5.0 by acetic acid. The volume is adjusted to 1.0 ml by addition of the residual amount of water. The solution is filtered, filled into vials using an appropriate overage and sterilized.

Example E

Sachets of the following composition are manufactured:

TABLE 12 possible sachet composition ingredient mg/sachet Compound of formula I or formula P-L-C  50 Lactose, fine powder 1015 Microcrystalline cellulose (AVICEL PH 102) 1400 Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose  14 Polyvinylpyrrolidon K 30  10 Magnesium stearate  10 Flavoring additives   1 Total 2500

Manufacturing Procedure

The compound of formula I or formula P-L-C is mixed with lactose, microcrystalline cellulose and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and granulated with a mixture of polyvinylpyrrolidone in water. The granulate is mixed with magnesium stearate and the flavoring additives and filled into sachets.

EXPERIMENTAL PART

The following examples are provided for illustration of the invention. They should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, but merely as being representative thereof.

Example 1 3-Amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide

a) N-Methyl-3-nitro-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzamide

A stirred solution of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide⁴⁶ (200 mg), 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵⁰ (151 mg) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (264 μl) in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (1 ml) was heated at 120° C. overnight. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and the crude product was collected by filtration, washed with water, and then dried in vacuo at 40° C. to afford N-methyl-3-nitro-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzamide (296 mg, 90%) as a red solid which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 328.0 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 3-Amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide

To a stirred suspension of N-methyl-3-nitro-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzamide (295 mg) in methanol (158 ml) and THF (158 ml) was added 10% palladium on charcoal (48 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred overnight at room temperature under an atmosphere of hydrogen. The catalyst was collected by filtration, washing with methanol. The filtrate was then concentrated in vacuo to afford 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide (265 mg, 99%) as a brown solid. MS (ISP): 298.0 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 2 N-Methyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

To a stirred solution of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide (50 mg, example 1) and 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde 71 (39.9 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (1.5 ml) was added sodium metabisulfite (128 mg) at room temperature. The reaction mixture was then heated at 120° C. overnight. Subsequent TLC and LC-MS analysis showed the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and poured into EtOAc/THF (30 ml, 1:1 mixture). The resulting mixture was washed sequentially with water and with saturated brine. The organic phase was then separated, dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford after lyophilisation N-methyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide (21 mg, 24%) as a white solid. 515.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 3 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using quinoline-4-carbaldehyde⁷² in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 435.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 4 2-Ethyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using propionaldehyde⁷³ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 336.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 5 N,2-Dimethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using acetaldehyde⁷⁴ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 322.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 6 5-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 240.9 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 7 2-(Quinolin-4-yl)-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′(3′H)-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (example 6) in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide and quinoline-4-carbaldehyde⁷² in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 378.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 8 2-(2-(1-Methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′(3′H)-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (example 6) in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. White solid. MS (ISP): 458.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 9 Methyl 3-amino-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using methyl 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoate⁴⁸ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 299.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 10 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-phenyl-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using benzaldehyde⁷⁵ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 384.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 11 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-(pyridin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using isonicotinaldehyde⁷⁶ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 385.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 12 5-(2-(Quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

a) 4-(1H-Imidazol-2-yl)quinoline

To a stirred solution of quinoline-4-carbaldehyde⁷² (1 g) in methanol (55 ml) at 0° C. was added 25% aq. ammonium hydroxide solution (4.96 ml) followed by dropwise addition of oxalaldehyde (7.3 ml, 40% solution in water). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 72 hours. The solvent was then evaporated and the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate (20 ml) and water (20 ml). The phases were separated and the organic phase was dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 10% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford 4-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)quinoline (320 mg, 26%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 196.4 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 2-Nitro-5-(2-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)aniline

To a stirred solution of 4-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)quinoline (190 mg) in DMF (3 ml) was added sodium hydride (38.9 mg) and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 min (gas evolution). 5-Fluoro-2-nitroaniline⁶¹ (152 mg) was added and the reaction mixture was heated at 60° C. overnight. After cooling, the reaction mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate and washed with 1 M aq. sodium bicarbonate solution. The organic phase was dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 10% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford 2-nitro-5-(2-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)aniline (44 mg, 14%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 332.1 ([M+H]⁺).

c) 4-(2-(Quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene-1,2-diamine

To a stirred solution of 2-nitro-5-(2-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)aniline (44 mg) in a mixture of methanol (5 ml) and THF (2 ml) was added 10% palladium on charcoal (14.1 mg). The reaction mixture was hydrogenated under an atmosphere of hydrogen. After stirring vigorously for 1 hour, the catalyst was collected by filtration, washing with methanol. The filtrate was then concentrated in vacuo to afford 4-(2-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene-1,2-diamine as a green solid (38 mg, 95%), which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 302.2 ([M+H]⁺).

d) 5-(2-(Quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

To a stirred solution of 4-(2-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene-1,2-diamine (38 mg) in THF (1 ml) was added dropwise a solution of di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methanone (20.4 mg) in THF (1 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. TLC analysis showed that the reaction was not finished. A solution of di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methanone (20.4 mg) in tetrahydrofuran (0.5 ml) was added dropwise and the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. The reaction mixture was then partitioned between ethyl acetate (5 ml) and water (5 ml). The phases were separated and the organic phase was dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 10% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford 5-(2-(quinolin-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (10 mg, 24%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 328.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 13 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

A stirred solution of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide (39 mg, example 1) in 2,2,2-trifluoroacetic acid (299 mg, 201 μl) was heated at 120° C. overnight in a sealed tube. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was dissolved in DMSO, and then 25% aq. ammonia was added to adjust the pH to 14. The mixture was poured into THF/EtOAc (2:1) and extracted sequentially with water and with saturated brine. The organic layer was then separated, dried over MgSO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The product was purified by reversed phase HPLC followed by lyophilisation to afford N-methyl-2′-oxo-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide (10 mg, 20%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 376.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 14 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-propyl-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using butyraldehyde⁷⁷ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 350.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 15 2-(1H-Imidazol-4-yl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 1H-imidazole-4-carbaldehyde⁷⁸ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 374.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 16 2-Isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using isobutyraldehyde⁷⁹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 350.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 17 N,1′,3′-Trimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

a) 3-Amino-4-[(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxobenzimidazole-5-yl)amino]-N-methylbenzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 5-amino-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵³ in place of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one in step a. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 326.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) N, 1′,3′-trimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 3-amino-4-[(1,3-dimethyl-2-oxobenzimidazole-5-yl)amino]-N-methylbenzamide in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. White solid. MS (ISP): 543.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 18 N,N-Dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

a) Methyl 3-nitro-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate

To a stirred solution of methyl 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoate⁴⁸ (1.5 g) and 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵⁰ (1.12 g) in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (1 ml) was added dropwise N,N-diisopropylethylamine (1.97 ml). The reaction mixture was heated at 120° C. overnight. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and filtered through sintered glass to afford methyl 3-nitro-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate (2.48 g, quant.) as a red solid. MS (ISP): 329.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) Methyl 3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate

To a stirred suspension of methyl 3-nitro-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate (2.48 g) in methanol (30 ml) and THF (30 ml) was added 10% palladium on charcoal (402 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight under an atmosphere of hydrogen. The reaction mixture was filtered through celite, washing with methanol. The filtrate was then concentrated in vacuo to afford methyl 3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate (2.2 g, 98%) as a grey solid. MS (ISP): 299.2 ([M+H]⁺).

c) Methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate

To a stirred solution of methyl 3-amino-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzoate (200 mg) and 2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde¹ (159 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (2.2 ml) was added sodium metabisulfite (510 mg) at room temperature. The reaction mixture was then heated at 120° C. for 3 h. LC-MS analysis showed the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and partitioned between ethyl acetate/THF (1:1, 50 ml) and 1 M aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (30 ml). The layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted twice with ethyl acetate (2×30 ml). The combined organic layers were washed with saturated brine (30 ml), dried over anhydrous Na₂SO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by preparative reverse phase HPLC on a Gemini NX 3u 50×4.6 mm column to afford methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate (166 mg, 48%) as a light brown solid. MS (ISP): 516.1 ([M+H]⁺).

d) 2-(2-(1-Methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic Acid

To a stirred solution of methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate (166 mg) in 1,4-dioxane (4 ml) was added dropwise 1 M aq. LiOH solution (2 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 h. Subsequent LC-MS showed the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was partitioned between ethyl acetate/THF (1:1, 50 ml) and 1 M aqueous HCl (5 ml). The layers were separated. The aqueous layer was extracted three times with ethyl acetate (3×20 ml). The combined organic layers were dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated in vacuo. Most product was detected in aqueous layer. The aqueous layer was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was lyophilised to afford 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid as a yellow solid (451 mg, 100%, 36% purity) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 500.1 ([M−H]⁻).

e) N,N-Dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

To a solution of 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid (451 mg), N,N-diisopropylethylamine (188 μl) and dimethylamine (202 μl, 2 M solution in THF) in N,N-dimethylformamide (4 ml) was added HATU (226 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 h. The reaction mixture was partitioned between ethyl acetate (50 ml) and water (30 ml). The layers were separated and the organic layer was washed with saturated brine (30 ml), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by reversed phase HPLC on a Gemini NX 3u 50×4.6 mm column to afford N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide as a yellow solid (74 mg, 52%). MS (ISP): 527.1 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 19 5-(Pyridin-3-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

To a solution of 5-bromo-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁸⁰ (50 mg) in dioxane (1 ml) were added pyridin-3-ylboronic acid⁸¹ (43.3 mg), [1,1-bis(diphenyl-phosphino)ferrocene]dichloropalladium(II) (17.2 mg) and 2 M aq. sodium carbonate solution (235 μl). The reaction mixture was heated at 100° C. for 18 hours. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature, diluted with water (50 ml). and extracted twice with ethyl acetate (2×30 ml). The combined organic layers were dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by chromatography (silica gel; 12 g; eluent: dichloromethane/methanol=100/0 to 95/05 in 10 minutes) to afford 5-(pyridin-3-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (12 mg, 23%) as a red solid. MS (ISP): 212.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 20 5-(2-Chloropyridin-4-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 19 using (2-chloropyridin-4-yl)boronic acid⁸² in place of pyridin-3-ylboronic acid. Light yellow solid. MS (ISP): 246.1 ({³⁵Cl}[M+H]⁺), 248.1 ({³⁷Cl}[M+H]⁺).

Example 21 5-(2-Methylthiazol-5-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 19 using 2-methyl-5-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)thiazole 8³ in place of pyridin-3-ylboronic acid. Light brown solid. MS (ISP): 232.0 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 22 5-(4-Acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

To a stirred solution of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid⁵⁶ (70 mg), 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone⁸⁴ (50.4 mg) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (206 μl) in DMF (1 ml) was added HATU (224 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 h. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was purified by preparative reverse-phase HPLC (Gemini NX C18, 12 nm, 5 t, 100×30 mm, flow rate 40 ml/min, eluant: CH₃CN/H₂O containing formic acid) followed by lyophilisation to afford 5-(4-acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one (50 mg, 44%) as white solid. MS (ISP): 289.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 23 N-(1-Acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using 1-(4-aminopiperidin-1-yl)ethanone⁸⁵ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 303.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 24 5-(Indoline-1-carbonyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using indoline⁸⁶ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone. Light yellow solid. MS (ISP): 280.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 25 N-(1,3-Dimethyl-2-oxo-benzimidazol-5-yl)furan-2-carboxamide

The title compound⁸⁷ can be purchased.

Example 26 5-(3-Phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

a) Benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-methyl-3-pyridyl]carbamate

To a stirred solution of 6-methylpyridine-2,3-diamine⁸⁸ (1.53 g) in THF (10 ml) were added N,N-diisopropylethylamine (5.13 ml) and benzyl chloroformiate (4.3 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. Water and ethyl acetate were added. The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, 20 g, eluent: 50% ethyl acetate in heptane) followed by crystallisation in EtOAc/heptane to afford benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-methyl-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.15 g, 65%) as a yellow oil.

¹H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl₃) δ 7.30-7.43 (m, 12H), 7.04 (br d, J=8.07 Hz, 1H), 5.21 (s, 2H), 5.19 (s, 2H), 4.70 (d, J=5.85 Hz, 1H),

b) Benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-(bromomethyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate

To a stirred solution of benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-methyl-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.15 g) in benzene (20 ml) was added N-bromosuccinimide (1.6 g) and 2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile (150 mg). The orange reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 6 hours. Water and ethyl acetate were added. The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo to afford benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-(bromomethyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.64 g, 96%) as a brown oil which was used in the next step without further purification.

c) [5,6-Bis(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-2-pyridyl]methyl-triphenyl-phosphonium bromide

To a stirred solution of benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-(bromomethyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.64 g) in THF (30 ml) was added triphenylphosphine (6 g). The orange reaction mixture was stirred at 50° C. for 18 hours. The by-product was filtered off and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in CH₂Cl₂ (20 ml) and added dropwise with stirring to TBME (300 ml). The resulting suspension was filtered to afford crude [5,6-bis(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-2-pyridyl]methyl-triphenyl-phosphonium bromide (3.2 g, 56%) as a beige solid which was used in the next step without further purification.

d) Benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-[(E)-3-phenylprop-1-enyl]-3-pyridyl]carbamate

To a stirred solution of [5,6-bis(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-2-pyridyl]methyl-triphenyl-phosphonium bromide (3.20 g) in dichloromethane (25 ml) was added 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (1 ml) and phenylacetaldehyde⁸⁹ (1 ml). The brown reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 21 hours. Water and ethyl acetate were added. The pH was adjusted to 5 with 1 M aq. HCl. The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo to afford crude benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-[(E)-3-phenylprop-1-enyl]-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.5 g, >100%) as a yellow oil which was used in the next step without further purification.

e) 5-(3-Phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

To a stirred suspension of benzyl N-[2-(benzyloxycarbonylamino)-6-[(E)-3-phenylprop-1-enyl]-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.5 g) in ethanol (100 ml) were added N,N-diisopropylethylamine (5 ml) and 10% palladium on charcoal (500 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature under an atmosphere of hydrogen for 23 h. The reaction mixture was filtered through celite, washing with methanol. The filtrate was then concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, 20 g, eluent: 50% of ethyl acetate in heptane to 20% methanol in ethyl acetate) followed by crystallisation in EtOAc/heptane to afford 5-(3-phenyl-propyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one (109 mg, 6%) as a light brown solid. MS (ISP): 254.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 27 1-Methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using aniline⁹⁰ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone and 1-methyl-2-oxo-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid⁹¹ in place of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 269.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 28 2-(3-Methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 2-(3-methoxyphenyl)acetaldehyde⁹² in place of 2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 347.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 29 N-(1-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)piperidin-4-yl)acetamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using N-(piperidin-4-yl)acetamide⁹³ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone. White solid. MS (ISP): 303.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 30 2-Isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 18 using methyl 3-fluoro-4-nitrobenzoate⁴⁹ in place of methyl 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoate in step a, isobutyraldehyde⁷⁹ in place of 2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde in step c, and methylamine⁹⁴ (2 M solution in THF) in place of dimethylamine (2 M solution in THF) in step e. White solid. MS (ISP): 350.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 31 1′,3′-Dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

a) 5-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide and 5-amino-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one⁵³ in place of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one in step a. Amorphous brown solid. MS (ISP): 269.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 1′,3′-Dimethyl-2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. White solid. MS (ISP): 486.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 32 5-(2-Isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

a) 5-(2-Isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2-nitroaniline

To a solution of 2-isopropyl-1H-imidazole⁹⁵ (155 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (4 ml), was added NaH (56.4 mg) portionwise. After stirring for 15 min at room temperature, 5-fluoro-2-nitroaniline⁶¹ (200 mg) was added and the reaction mixture was heated at 60° C. for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate and washed with aq. sodium bicarbonate. The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 5% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford 5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2-nitroaniline (85 mg, 27%) as an orange solid. MS (ISP): 247.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 4-(2-Isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene-1,2-diamine

To a stirred solution of 5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2-nitroaniline (85 mg) in methanol (2 ml) was added 10% palladium on charcoal (37 mg). The reaction mixture was hydrogenated under an atmosphere of hydrogen. After stirring vigorously for 1 hour, the catalyst was collected by filtration, washing with methanol. The filtrate was then concentrated in vacuo to afford 4-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene-1,2-diamine as a brown solid (61.8 mg, 83%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 217.1 ([M+H]⁺).

c) 5-(2-Isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a solution of 5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (27.1 mg) in THF (1 ml) was added dropwise a solution of di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methanone (93 mg) in THF (1 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. The light purple suspension was filtered and the solid was purified by preparative HPLC (Gemini NX, 12 nm, 5 μm, 100×30 mm, acetonitrile/water+0.1% triethylamine) to afford 5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one as a brown solid (27.1 mg, 39%). MS (ISP): 243.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 33 5-(2-Oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

a) 1-(3-Amino-4-nitro-phenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one

To a solution of 5-bromo-2-nitroaniline (200 mg) in anhydrous dioxane (500 μl) were successively added pyrrolidin-2-one⁹⁶ (94.1 mg), potassium carbonate (255 mg), trans-1, 2-cyclohexanediamine (105 mg) and copper (I) iodide (176 mg). The reaction mixture was heated at 110° C. for 16 hours. After cooling to room temperature, the mixture was partitioned between water and ethyl acetate. The aqueous layer was extracted with additional ethyl acetate and the combined extracts were dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 50 to 100% of ethyl acetate in heptane) to afford 1-(3-amino-4-nitro-phenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one (40 mg, 20%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 222.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 1-(3,4-Diaminophenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one

To a stirred solution of 1-(3-amino-4-nitro-phenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one (40 mg) in MeOH (2 ml) was added 10% palladium on charcoal (19.2 mg). The reaction mixture was hydrogenated under an atmosphere of hydrogen. After stirring vigorously for 1 hour, the catalyst was collected by filtration, washing with methanol. The filtrate was then concentrated in vacuo to afford 1-(3,4-diaminophenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one as a light yellow solid (34 mg, 98%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 192.1 ([M+H]⁺).

c) 5-(2-Oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a solution of 1-(3,4-diaminophenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one (28.1 mg) in THF (548 μl) was added dropwise a solution of di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methanone (57.7 mg) in THF (548 μl). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 16 hours. The suspension was filtered, then the solid was washed with THF and dried under high vacuum to afford 5-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one as a light brown solid (28.1 mg, 73%). MS (ISP): 218.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 34 2-Isopropyl-1′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

a) 5-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 5-amino-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵¹ in place of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one and 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Dark brown solid. MS (ISP): 255.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 2-Isopropyl-3′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-2′-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using isobutyraldehyde⁷⁹ in place of 2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde and 5-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one instead of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. Orange foam (59.7 mg, 62%). MS (ISP): 307.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 35 2-Isopropyl-3′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

a) 6-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 6-amino-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one hydrochloride⁹⁷ in place of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one and 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Dark brown solid. MS (ISP): 255.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 2-Isopropyl-1′-methyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using isobutyraldehyde⁷⁹ in place of 2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde and 6-((2-aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one instead of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. Orange foam (59.7 mg, 62%). MS (ISP): 307.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 36 6-(4-Fluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one

a) Ethyl 4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylate

To a stirred solution of ethyl 4-chloro-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylate⁹⁸ (11.36 g) in DMF (115 ml) was added sodium azide (7.92 g). The reaction mixture was stirred at 70° C. for 2 hours. TLC analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and the white solid was removed by filtration, washing with ethyl acetate. The filtrate was evaporated in vacuo and the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate (100 ml) and water (300 ml). The aqueous phase was extracted twice with ethyl acetate (2×100 ml). The combined organic layers were dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by chromatography (silica gel, 300 g, eluent: 33% of ethyl acetate in cyclohexane) to afford ethyl 4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylate (10.74 g, 93%) as an orange solid. MS (ISP): 286.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 4-Azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylic Acid

To a stirred solution of ethyl 4-chloro-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylate (10.37 g) in ethanol (210 ml) at 0° C. was added dropwise a solution of KOH (4.8 g) in water (23 ml). The reaction mixture was allowed to reach room temperature and stirring continued for 1 hour. The solvents were evaporated and the residue was dissolved in water (100 ml) and a solution of 1 M aq. HCl (100 ml) was added. The resulting white solid was collected by filtration, washing with water, and dried under high vacuum to afford 4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylic acid (8.82 g, 94%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 257.1 ([M−H]⁻).

c) tert-Butyl N-[4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate

To a stirred solution of 4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carboxylic acid (8.80 g) and triethylamine (5.2 ml) in THF (215 ml) at −10° C. was added dropwise a solution of ethyl chloroformate (3.6 ml) in THF (90 ml). After stirring for 30 min, a solution of sodium azide (11 g) in water (80 ml) was added dropwise at −10° C. The reaction mixture was allowed to reach room temperature and stirring continued 2.5 hours. The solvents were evaporated and the residue was suspended in water (200 ml). The yellow solid was collected by filtration, washing with water, and dissolved in a mixture of dichloromethane and THF. The organic solution was washed with sat. brine, dried over MgSO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo to afford a yellow solid. This solid was dissolved in 1,2-dichloroethane (190 ml) and tert-butanol (80 ml) and the resulting solution was stirred at reflux for 2 hours. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the crude material was purified by chromatography (silica gel, 600 g, eluent: 20% to 33% of ethyl acetate in cyclohexane) to afford tert-butyl N-[4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.45 g, 31%) as an orange solid. MS (ISP): 330.3 ([M+H]⁺).

d) tert-Butyl N-[4-amino-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate

To a stirred solution of tert-butyl N-[4-azido-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate (3.4 g) in a mixture of MeOH (200 ml) and THF (60 ml) was added 10% palladium on charcoal (360 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred under a hydrogen atmosphere for 4 hours at room temperature. The catalyst was filtered off and the filter cake was washed with methanol. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to afford tert-butyl N-[4-amino-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate as a beige solid (3.28 g) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 304.2 ([M+H]⁺).

e) 6-(4-Fluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one

A stirred solution of tert-butyl N-[4-amino-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate (303 mg) in toluene (4 ml) was refluxed for 48 h. After cooling to room temperature, the resulting solid was collected by filtration, washing with toluene and diethyl ether, to afford 6-(4-fluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one (170 mg, 74%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 229.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 37 5-(2,5-Difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 36 step e using tert-butyl N-[2-amino-4-(2,5-difluorophenyl)phenyl]carbamate⁹⁹ in place of tert-butyl N-[4-amino-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate. Beige solid. MS (ISP): 247.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 38 5-(2,4-Difluoro-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 36 step e using tert-butyl N-[2-amino-4-(2,4-difluorophenyl)phenyl]carbamate¹⁰⁰ in place of tert-butyl N-[4-amino-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridyl]carbamate. Beige solid. MS (ISP): 247.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 39 5-[(4-Methoxyphenyl)methyl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 19 using p-methoxybenzylboronic acid¹⁰¹ in place of pyridin-3-ylboronic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 255.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 40 5-[4-(2-Pyridyl)piperazin-1-yl]-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 58 step c using 6-[4-(2-pyridyl)piperazin-1-yl]pyridine-2,3-diamine¹⁰² in place of tert-butyl 4-(3,4-diaminophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate. White solid. MS (ISP): 297.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 41 5-(4-Pyrrol-1-yl-phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 19 using B-[4-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl]boronic acid¹⁰³ in place of pyridin-3-ylboronic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 276.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 42 5-Quinolin-5-yl-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one

To a stirred solution of 5-bromo-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one¹⁰⁴ (930 mg) in a mixture of dioxane (47 ml) and 1 M aqueous sodium carbonate (24 ml) was added 5-quinolylboronic acid¹⁰⁵ (906 mg). The reaction mixture was purged three times with Argon before adding 2-dicyclohexylphosphino-2′,6′-dimethoxybiphenyl (0.358 g) and palladium(II) acetate (0.098 g). The reaction mixture was refluxed for 4 hours. Dioxane was removed by evaporation and ethyl acetate was added. The solid obtained was filtered, dissolved in dichloromethane and washed with water. The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 5% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford 5-(2-isopropyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2-nitroaniline (85 mg, 27%) as an orange solid. MS (ISP): 247.2 ([M+H]⁺). The organic layer off and the filter cake was washed with methanol. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to 5-quinolin-5-yl-1,3-dihydro-benzoimidazol-2-one as a dark brown solid (949 mg). MS (ISP): 262.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 43 Ethyl 4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole)-5-sulfonamido)benzoate

To a solution of ethyl 4-aminobenzoate¹⁰⁶ (35.5 mg) in pyridine (0.5 ml) was added 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonyl chloride⁵⁹ (50 mg) and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was partitioned between ethyl acetate/THF (1:3, 30 ml) and 2 M aqueous HCl (20 ml). The layers were separated. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate/THF (1:1, 20 ml). The combined organic layers were washed with saturated brine (15 ml), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (SiO₂, eluant: dichloromethane/methanol 100:0 to 90:10) to afford ethyl 4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole)-5-sulfonamido)benzoate as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 360.1 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 44 1-Methyl-5-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 19 using phenylboronic acid¹⁰⁷ in place of pyridin-3-ylboronic acid and 5-chloro-1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one¹⁰⁸ in place of 5-bromo-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one. White solid. MS (ISP): 226.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 45 2-(2-Methoxybenzyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)acetaldehyde¹⁰⁹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 428.4 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 46 2-(tert-Butyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using pivaldehyde¹¹⁰ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 364.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 47 Methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylate

a) Methyl 2-amino-3-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using methyl 3-fluoro-2-nitrobenzoate¹¹ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Yellow solid. MS (ISP): 299.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) Methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using isobutyraldehyde⁷⁹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde and methyl 2-amino-3-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. White solid. MS (ISP): 351.1 ([M+H]1).

Example 48 Methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxylate

a) Methyl 4-amino-3-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using methyl 3-fluoro-4-nitrobenzoate⁴⁹ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 299.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) Methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-6-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using isobutyraldehyde⁷⁹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde and methyl 4-amino-3-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. White solid. MS (ISP): 351.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 49 1,3-Dimethyl-5-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 step a using 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide and 5-amino-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵³ in place of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one. Red solid. MS (ISP): 299.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 50 5-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 step b using 1,3-dimethyl-5-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one in place of N-methyl-3-nitro-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzamide. Amorphous brown solid. MS (ISP): 269.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 51 2-Oxo-N-(4-piperidyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide

a) tert-Butyl 4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carbonyl)amino]piperidine-1-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using tert-butyl 4-aminopiperidine-1-carboxylate¹² in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone. White solid. MS (ISP): 305.1 ([M+H—C₄H₈]⁺).

b) 2-Oxo-N-(4-piperidyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide

To a stirred suspension of tert-butyl 4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carbonyl)amino]piperidine-1-carboxylate (54 mg) in dichloromethane (2 ml) was added dropwise a solution of 4 M HCl in dioxane (1.1 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. The reaction mixture was then concentrated in vacuo. Diethyl ether was added and the resulting mixture was ultrasonicated. The mixture was then filtered through sintered glass, and the filter cake was dried in vacuo to afford 2-oxo-N-(4-piperidyl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide as its hydrochloride salt (39 mg, 88%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 261.1 ([M+H—C₄H₈]⁺).

Example 52 6-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide and 6-amino-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁹⁷ instead of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one in step a. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 285.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 53 5-((2-Aminophenyl)amino)-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide and 5-amino-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one hydrochloride¹¹³ instead of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one in step a. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 255.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 54 Methyl 1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)indoline-4-carboxylate

To a stirred solution of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid⁵⁶ (150 mg) and methyl indoline-4-carboxylate¹¹⁴ (149 mg) in methanol (5 ml) was added 4-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-4-methylmorpholin-4-ium chloride¹⁵ (280 mg, DMTMM). The reaction mixture was stirred for 4 h at room temperature. LC/MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was purified by preparative reverse-phase HPLC (Gemini NX C18, 12 nm, 5 t, 100×30 mm, flow rate 40 ml/min, eluant: CH₃CN/H₂O containing formic acid) followed by lyophilisation in vacuo to afford methyl 1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbonyl)indoline-4-carboxylate (60 mg, 21%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 338.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 55 6-(Indoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using indoline⁸⁶ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone and 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid¹¹⁶ in place of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 281.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 56 N-(1-Acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using 1-(4-aminopiperidin-1-yl)ethan-1-one⁸⁵ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone and 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid¹¹⁶ in place of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 304.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 57 2-(3-(Methoxymethyl)phenyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 3-(methoxymethyl)benzaldehyde¹¹⁷ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 428.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 58 5-(Piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

a) tert-Butyl 4-(3,4-dinitrophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate

A mixture of 4-fluoro-1,2-dinitrobenzene⁶² (250 mg), tert-butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate¹¹⁸ (275 mg) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (351 μl) in acetonitrile (2 ml) was stirred at room temperature overnight. Pentane (1 ml) was added and the suspension was filtered. The filter cake was dried in vacuo to afford tert-butyl 4-(3,4-dinitrophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (385 mg, 81%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 353.3 ([M+H]⁺).

b) tert-Butyl 4-(3,4-diaminophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate

A mixture of tert-butyl 4-(3,4-dinitrophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (385 mg) and 10% Pd/C (116 mg) in THF (1 ml) and Ethanol (1 ml) was stirred at room temperature overnight under a hydrogen atmosphere. The mixture was then filtered through a membrane filter and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to afford tert-butyl 4-(3,4-diaminophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (237 mg, 74%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 293.3 ([M+H]⁺).

c) tert-Butyl 4-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylate

To a stirred solution of tert-butyl 4-(3,4-diaminophenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (230 mg) in THF (2 ml) was added CDI (140 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. LC-MS analysis indicated that no starting material was left. The reaction mixture was diluted with water (40 ml) and extracted twice with ethyl acetate (2×30 ml). The combined organic layers were dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by preparative HPLC to afford tert-butyl 4-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (57.7 mg, 23%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 319.3 ([M+H]⁺).

d) 5-(Piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a suspension of tert-butyl 4-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (65 mg) in 1,4-dioxane (1.5 ml) at room temperature was added a 4 M solution of hydrogen chloride in 1,4-dioxane (1 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The solvent was concentrated in vacuo to afford 5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (52 mg, 100%) as its hydrochloride salt as a white solid. MS (ISP): 219.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 59 5-[rac-(1S,5R)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained as its hydrochloride salt in analogy to example 58 using tert-butyl rac-(1S,5R)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-8-carboxylate¹¹⁹ in place of tert-butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate in step a. White solid. MS (ISP): 245.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 60 2-Isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxamide

a) 2-Isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylic acid

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 18 step d using methyl 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylate (example 47) in place of methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate and THF in place of 1,4-dioxane. White solid. MS (ISP): 337.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 2-Isopropyl-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-f[15′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 18 step e using 2-isopropyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-4-carboxylic acid in place of 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid and methylamine in place of dimethylamine. White solid. MS (ISP): 350.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 61 5-[2-(Hydroxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

a) 5-(2-Aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene⁴⁵ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 241.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 5-[2-(Hydroxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

A solution of 5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (250 mg) and glycolic acid¹²⁰ (158 mg) in a 6 M solution of HCl (8 ml) was stirred at 120° C. for 48 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford 5-[2-(hydroxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (170 mg, 57.9%) as a brown solid. MS (ISP): 281.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 62 5-(4-Acetylpiperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a stirred solution of 5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one hydrochloride (50 mg, example 59) and triethylamine (82 μl) in DMF (1 ml) at room temperature was added dropwise acetic anhydride (20 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. LC/MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was poured into water (10 ml) and extracted with 1:4 EtOAc/THF (2×30 ml). The combined organic phases were dried over Na₂S=4 and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative HPLC followed by lyophilisation to afford 5-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (23 mg, 45%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 261.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 63 5-[rac-(1S,5R)-8-Acetyl-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 62 using 5-[rac-(1S,5R)-3,8-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one hydrochloride in place of 5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one hydrochloride. White solid. MS (ISP): 287.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 64 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-carbaldehyde¹²¹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 392.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 65 N-Methyl-2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 1-methyl-1H-imidazole-4-carbaldehyde¹²² in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 388.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 66 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 1H-pyrrole-3-carbaldehyde¹²³ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 373.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 67 2-Oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide

To a mixture of aniline (50 mg) and 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid¹¹⁶ (106 mg) were added 0.36 M HATU in N,N-dimethylformamide (245 mg, 1.8 ml) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (276 μl). The reaction mixture was shaken at 25° C. for 2 hours and was then partitioned between water and a 1:1 mixture of ethyl acetate/THF. The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The product was suspended in dichloromethane (3 ml) and stirred. The product was collected by filtration, washed with dichloromethane and dried to afford 2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide (29.4 mg, 22%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 255.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 68 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-carboxamide

To a stirred solution of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid¹²⁴ (40 mg), 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰ (36.8 mg) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (172 μl) in DMF (1 ml) was added HATU (141 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. The reaction mixture was then poured into EtOAc/THF (1:1) and extracted with saturated brine. The organic layer was separated, dried over Na₂SO₄, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reverse-phase HPLC (Gemini NX C18, 12 nm, 5μ, 100×30 mm, flow rate 40 ml/min, eluant: CH₃CN/H₂O containing formic acid) followed by lyophilisation to afford N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-carboxamide (15 mg, 21%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 294.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 69 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-1-carboxylic acid¹²⁵ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 294.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 70 2-(4-Aminophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(4-aminophenyl)acetic acid¹²⁶ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 283.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 71 (S)—N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using (S)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxylic acid¹²⁷ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 308.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 72 (R)—N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using (R)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-carboxylic acid¹²⁸ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 308.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 73 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using benzoic acid¹²⁹ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 254.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 74 4-Acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 4-acetamidobenzoic acid¹³⁰ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 311.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 75 3-Acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 3-acetamidobenzoic acid¹³¹ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 311.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 76 N-Methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using N-methylaniline¹³² in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone and 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid instead of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 269.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 77¹³³ 2-Oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

The title compound can be purchased.

Example 78 2-(4-Acetamidophenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(4-acetamidophenyl)acetic acid¹³⁴ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 325.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 79 2-Isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide

a) N-Methyl-3-nitro-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)amino]benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using 6-amino-1, 3-dihydroimidazo[4, 5-b]pyridin-2-one¹³⁵ in place of 5-amino-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-one for step a. Yellow solid. MS (ISP): 297.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 2-Isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide

To a solution of N-methyl-3-nitro-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)amino]benzamide (180 mg) in ethanol (8 ml) were added isobutyraldehyde (43.5 mg) and 1 M aqueous sodium hydrosulfite (1.64 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at 70° C. for 12 hours. After cooling, the reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate (20 ml). The combined organic layer was washed with brine, dried, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford 2-isopropyl-N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydroimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-6-yl)benzimidazole-5-carboxamide (16.3 mg, 8.5%) as a brown solid. MS (ISP): 351.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 80 N-[2-[1-(2-Oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]ethyl]acetamide

a) 5-[2-(2-Aminoethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one Hydrochloride Salt

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 61 using beta-alanine¹³⁶ in place of glycolic acid in step b. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 294.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) N-[2-[1-(2-Oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]ethyll]acetamide

To a stirred solution of 5-[2-(2-aminoethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one hydrochloride (200 mg) in dichloromethane (10 ml) were added triethylamine (0.25 ml) and acetic anhydride (93 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford N-[2-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]ethyl]acetamide (14.6 mg, 3.6%) as a brown solid. MS (ISP): 336.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 81 N-Methyl-3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanamide

a) 4-Oxo-4-[2-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]anilino]butanoic Acid

To a solution of succinic anhydride¹³⁷ (500 mg) in dichloromethane (15 ml) was added 5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (600 mg). The mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo to afford crude 4-oxo-4-[2-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]anilino]butanoic acid (800 mg, 94.1%), which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 341.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 3-[1-(2-Oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanoic Acid

A solution of 4-oxo-4-[2-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]anilino]butanoic acid (800 mg) in a 6 M solution of HCl (15 ml) was stirred at 120° C. for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo to afford crude 3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanoic acid (550 mg, 72.6%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 323.1 ([M+H]⁺).

c) N-Methyl-3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanamide

To a solution of 3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanoic acid (500 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (10 ml) were added 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (892 mg),1-hydroxybenzotriazole (629 mg) and methylamine⁹⁴ (3.1 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The mixture was poured into water and extracted with ethyl acetate (3×20 ml). The combined organic layers were dried, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford N-methyl-3-[1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl]propanamide (270 mg, 51.7%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 336.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 82 Methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate

a) 5-[2-(Trichloromethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

To a solution of 5-(2-aminoanilino)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (1000 mg) in acetic acid (15 ml) was added benzyl 2,2,2-trichloroacetimidate¹³⁸ (1.01 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 3 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate (30 ml) and washed with a aq. solution of sodium carbonate. The organic layer was dried, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by column chromatography (SiO₂, petrol ether/ethylacetate 10:1) to afford 5-[2-(trichloromethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (1 g, 51.5%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 368.8 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 5-[2-(Trimethoxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

To a solution of 5-[2-(trichloromethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (200 mg) in methanol (8 ml) was added sodium carbonate (86.5 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo to afford crude 5-[2-(trimethoxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (180 mg, 93.4%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 355.2 ([M+H]⁺).

c) Methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate

To a solution of 5-[2-(trimethoxymethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (180 mg) in methanol (8 ml) was added conc. HCl (2 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate (21.8 mg, 13.7%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 309.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 83 5-(Benzimidazol-1-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 61 using formic acid¹³⁹ in place of glycolic acid for step b and heating for 12 hours instead of 48 hours. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 251.0 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 84 5-[2-(1-Hydroxyethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 61 using lactic acid¹⁴⁰ in place of glycolic acid for step b and heating for 12 hours instead of 48 hours. Yellow solid. MS (ISP): 295.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 85 5-[2-[Hydroxy(phenyl)methyl]benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 61 using mandelic acid¹⁴¹ in place of glycolic acid for step b and heating for 12 hours instead of 48 hours. Yellow solid. MS (ISP): 357.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 86 N-(1-Acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

To a solution of 4-dimethylaminopyridine (165 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (5 ml) were added 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxylic acid¹⁴² (200 mg), HATU (512 mg), N,N-diisopropylethylamine (0.59 ml) and 1-(4-(methylamino)piperidin-1-yl)ethanone hydrochloride¹⁴³ (216 mg), then the mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 16 hr. The reaction mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (5 ml) and water (10 ml). The aqueous layer was extracted twice with ethyl acetate, then the combined organic layers were dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford methyl N-(1-acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide (30 mg, 8.5%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 317.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 87 1-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-(4-(phenylamino)phenyl)urea

To a stirred suspension of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine¹⁴⁴ (124 mg) and triethylamine (187 μl) in THF (2 ml) was added triphosgene (73.6 mg) at 0-5° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 h. A solution of 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰ (100 mg) in DMF (1 ml) added and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 h. Water were added and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 min. The product was collected by filtration, washing with water, and dried in vacuo in a drying oven to give 1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-(4-(phenylamino)phenyl)urea (103 mg, 43%) as a grey solid. MS (ISP): 360.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 88 1-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3-phenylurea

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using aniline⁹⁰ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 269.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 89 Methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using methyl indoline-4-carboxylate¹¹⁴ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 353.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 90 3-Acetamido-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)propanamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 3-acetamidopropanoic acid¹⁴⁵ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 263.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 91 1-Acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 1-acetylpiperidine-4-carboxylic acid¹⁴⁶ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 303.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 92 Methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using methyl indoline-5-carboxylate¹⁴⁷ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 353.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 93 N4-Methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide

a) 1-((2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid

To a stirred suspension of methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate (120 mg, example 89) in THF (1.5 ml) and MeOH (1.5 ml) was added 1 M aq. LiOH solution (1.36 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight to afford a dark brown solution. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. 5 N aq. HCl was added dropwise to adjust the pH to 5 to give a light brown suspension. The reaction mixture was then filtered through a Sartorius funnel. The filter cake was dried in vacuo to afford 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid (67 mg, 58%) as an off-white solid. The organic solvents of the filtrate were separated and concentrated in vacuo. Water was added to the residue and the resulting solution was lyophilised to afford a further quantity of 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid as an off-white solid. The crude product was used in the next step without further purification.

b) N4-Methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide

To a stirred suspension of 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid (50 mg), N,N-diisopropylethylamine (155 μl) and methanamine (148 μl, 2 M solution in THF) in DMF (3 ml) was added HATU (112 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. The reaction mixture was then poured into water and extracted with EtOAc/THF (1:2). The organic layer was separated, dried over Na₂SO₄, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reverse phase HPLC (YMC-Triart C18, 12 nm, 5 μm, 100×30 mm, flow rate 40 ml/min, eluant: CH₃CN/H₂O containing formic acid) followed by lyophilisation to afford N4-methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide (13 mg, 25%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 352.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 94 1-Benzyl-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea

To a stirred suspension of (isocyanatomethyl)benzene¹⁴⁸ (89.3 mg) in THF (1 ml) at room temperature was added 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰ (100 mg) and the reaction mixture was stirred for at room temperature for 1 h. The product was collected by filtration, washing with THF (20 ml), and dried in vacuo in a drying oven to give 1-benzyl-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea (177 mg, 94%) as a grey solid grey solid. MS (ISP): 283.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 95 6-(1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline¹⁴⁹ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone and 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid instead of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 295.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 96¹⁵⁰ N-Methyl-2-oxo-N-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

The title compound can be purchased.

Example 97¹⁵¹ 5-(1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroquinoline-1-carbonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound can be purchased.

Example 98 Methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using methyl 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-5-carboxylate¹⁵² in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 367.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 99 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)acetamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)acetic acid¹⁵³ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 347.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 100 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-4-sulfamoylbenzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 4-sulfamoylbenzoic acid¹⁵⁴ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 333.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 101 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-4-sulfamoylbenzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using N-(4-aminophenyl)acetamide¹⁵⁵ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 326.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 102 N-Methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxamide

a) Methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate

To a solution of 5-[2-(trichloromethyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (3.0 g) in methanol (40 ml) was added sodium methoxide (440 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 12 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo to afford crude methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate (3 g, 67.9%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 309.0 ([M+H]⁺).

b) N-Methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxamide

To a solution of methyl 1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxylate (300 mg) in methanol (10 ml) were added methylamine (0.73 ml) and triethylamine (0.27 ml The reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 4 hours. According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished, the reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by preparative reversed phase HPLC to afford N-methyl-1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)benzimidazole-2-carboxamide (85.4 mg, 27.8%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 308.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 103 5-[2-(Piperidine-1-carbonyl)benzimidazol-1-yl]-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 102 using piperidine¹⁵⁶ in place of methylamine for step b. White solid. MS (ISP): 362.6 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 104 6-(2-(Benzyloxy)phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one

To a stirred solution of (2-(benzyloxy)phenyl)boronic acid¹⁵⁷ (100 mg) and 6-bromo-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one (94 mg) in water (0.3 ml) and dioxane (1.5 ml) was added 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene-palladium(II) dichloride dichloromethane complex (35.8 mg) at room temperature. After degassing for 10 minutes with argon, Cs₂CO₃ (286 mg) was added. The suspension was stirred at 90° C. for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was partitioned between water and ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was stirred in a mixture of dichloromethane/methanol 95:5, filtered and dried to afford 6-(2-(benzyloxy)phenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one (75.8 mg, 54.5%) as a light yellow solid MS (ISP): 318.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 105 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using 1H-indoline⁸⁶ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Purple solid. MS (ISP): 295.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 106 2-(4-(N-Methylsulfamoyl)phenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)acetamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(4-(N-methylsulfamoyl)phenyl)acetic acid¹⁵⁸ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 361.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 107 Methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate

a) Methyl 3-amino-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 using methyl 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoate⁴⁸ in place of 4-fluoro-N-methyl-3-nitrobenzamide in step a. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 299.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) Methyl 2-(2-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using methyl 3-amino-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate in place of 3-amino-N-methyl-4-[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]benzamide. Light brown solid. MS (ISP): 516.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 108 2-(2-Methoxypyridin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 2-methoxyisonicotinaldehyde¹⁵⁹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 415.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 109 N5-Methyl-N1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-3,4-dihydroquinoline-1,5(2H)-dicarboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 93 using methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-5-carboxylate (example 98) instead of methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate. White solid. MS (ISP): 366.2 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 110 5-(5-Bromo-1-oxo-isoindolin-2-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one

a) Methyl 4-bromo-2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzoate

To a solution of methyl 4-bromo-2-(bromomethyl)benzoate¹⁶⁰ (1.0 g) in methanol (10 ml) was added triethylamine (0.56 ml) and 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-one (0.4 g). The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 12 hours. The yellow suspension obtained was filtered and the solid dried in vacuo to afford crude methyl 4-bromo-2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzoate (1 g, 98.7%) which was used in the next step without further purification.

b) Methyl 1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate

To a solution of methyl 4-bromo-2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzoate (1.0 g) in ethanol (5 ml) was added potassium carbonate (551 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 4 hours. The resulting yellow suspension was filtered, and the filter cake was washed sequentially with water, ethyl acetate and ethanol and then dried in vacuo to afford 5-(5-bromo-1-oxo-isoindolin-2-yl)-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (460 mg, 50.3%). Yellow solid. MS (ISP): MS (IPS): 344.1 [M+H]+⁷⁹Br; 346.1 [M+H]+⁸¹Br

Example 111 Ethyl 1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate

a) Dimethyl 2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate

To a solution of dimethyl 2-(bromomethyl)benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate⁶³ (1.7 g) in methanol (2 ml) were added triethylamine (1.24 ml) and 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-one (883 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 12 hours. The resulting suspension was filtered and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was diluted with water (20 ml) and ethyl acetate (30 ml). The layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×20 ml). The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried with Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to afford dimethyl 2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate in a 1:1 mixture with dimethyl 2-[[[2,5-bis(methoxycarbonyl)phenyl]methyl-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate (1.47 g), which was used in the next step without further purification.

b) Ethyl 1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 110 using dimethyl 2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate in place of methyl 4-bromo-2-[[(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)amino]methyl]benzoate. White solid. MS (ISP): 336.3 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 112 Methyl 1-oxo-2-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 111 using methanol as solvent instead of ethanol in the final step. Light yellow solid. MS (ISP): 322.3 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 113 2-(2-(1-Methyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)quinolin-4-yl)-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 18 step e using aqueous ammonia in place of dimethylamine. Light brown solid. MS (ISP): 501.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 114 N-Methyl-2′-oxo-2-(1-phenylcyclopropyl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 1-phenylcyclopropane-1-carbaldehyde¹⁶¹ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. White solid. MS (ISP): 424.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 115 2-(1-(4-Methoxyphenyl)cyclopropyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)cyclopropane-1-carbaldehyde¹⁶² in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. Light yellow solid. MS (ISP): 454.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 116 5-(Indolin-1-ylsulfonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a stirred solution of indoline⁸⁶ (25.6 mg) in pyridine (0.5 ml) was added 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonyl chloride⁵⁹ (50 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was poured into EtOAc/THF (1:3) and extracted sequentially with 2 M aq. HCl and with saturated brine. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, 0% to 10% MeOH in dichloromethane) to afford 5-(indolin-1-ylsulfonyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (44 mg, 65%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 314.1 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 117 N-(1-Acetylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-sulfonamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 116 using 1-(4-aminopiperidin-1-yl)ethan-1-one^(s5) in place of indoline. White solid. MS (ISP): 339.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 118 Methyl 4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)benzoate

To a stirred solution of 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰ (50 mg) in pyridine (0.5 ml) was added methyl 4-(chlorosulfonyl)benzoate¹⁶³ (78.7 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was poured into EtOAc/THF (1:3) and extracted sequentially with diluted 2 M aq. HCl and with saturated brine. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was taken up in dichloromethane and the mixture was ultrasonicated at room temperature. The mixture was then filtered through sintered glass, and the solid was dried in vacuo to afford methyl 4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)benzoate (101 mg, 87%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 348.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 119 tert-Butyl (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using tert-butyl indolin-5-ylcarbamate¹⁶⁴ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Brown solid. MS (ISP): 408.2 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 120 5-(Benzyloxy)-2-isopropyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

a) 5-((4-(Benzyloxy)-2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a stirred solution of 5-amino-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one⁵⁰ (200 mg) and 4-(benzyloxy)-1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene¹⁶⁵ (332 mg) in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (2 ml) was added N,N-diisopropylethylamine (351 μl) at room temperature. The reaction mixture was heated at 120° C. for 15 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was partitioned between 1:1 ethyl acetate/THF (50-ml) and 1 M aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (30 ml). The layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with three 30 ml portions of ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with one 25 ml portion of saturated brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (SiO₂, eluant: dichloromethane/methanol 100:0 to 95:5) to give 5-((4-(benzyloxy)-2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (410 mg, 81%) as a red solid. MS (ISP): 377.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 5-((2-Amino-4-(benzyloxy)phenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a stirred suspension of 5-((4-(benzyloxy)-2-nitrophenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (410 mg) and iron dust (608 mg) in 1:5 water/EtOH (2 ml) at room temperature was added acetic acid (624 μl). The reaction mixture was then heated at reflux with shaking for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The solids were removed by filtration over HiFlo Decalit and washed with ethyl acetate. The filtrate was partitioned between ethyl acetate (50 ml) and 2 M aq. sodium carbonate (30 ml). The layers were separated. The aqueous layer was extracted with two 20 ml portions of ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with one 20 ml portion of saturated brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (SiO₂, eluant: dichloromethane/methanol 100:0 to 90:10) to give 5-((2-amino-4-(benzyloxy)phenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one as a red solid. MS (ISP): 347.2 ([M+H]⁺).

c) 5-(Benzyloxy)-2-isopropyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

To a stirred solution of 5-((2-amino-4-(benzyloxy)phenyl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (95 mg,) and isobutyraldehyde (100 μl) in N,N-dimethylformamide (2 ml) at room temperature was added sodium metabisulfite (209 mg). The reaction mixture was then heated at 120° C. for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was partitioned between 1:1 THF/ethyl acetate (20 ml) and water (20 ml). The layers were separated. The aqueous layer was extracted with one 15 ml portion of ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with one 10 ml portion of saturated brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo to afford 5-(benzyloxy)-2-isopropyl-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one ((22 mg, 20%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 399.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 121 5-Amino-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide

To a stirred suspension of tert-butyl (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate (130 mg, example 119) in 1,4-dioxane (0.5 ml) at room temperature was added 4 M hydrogen chloride solution in 1,4-dioxane (1.5 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The resulting solid was collected by filtration, washed with methanol and pentane and dried in vacuo to give 5-amino-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide (69 mg, 63%) as its hydrochloride salt as a brown solid. MS (ISP): 310.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 122 2′-Methyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2′-methyl-[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-carboxylic acid¹⁶⁶ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 344.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 123 2-Benzyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-benzylbenzoic acid¹⁶⁷ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 344.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 124 2-Isopropyl-5-methoxy-1′,3′-dihydro-2′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-2′-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 120 using 1-fluoro-4-methoxy-2-nitrobenzene¹⁶⁸ in place of 4-(benzyloxy)-1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene in step a. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 323.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 125 tert-Butyl 4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)piperidine-1-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 118 using tert-butyl 4-(chlorosulfonyl)piperidine-1-carboxylate¹⁶⁹ in place of methyl 4-(chlorosulfonyl)benzoate. White solid. MS (ISP): 395.1 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 126 Ethyl 4-(3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)ureido)benzoate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using ethyl 4-aminobenzoate¹⁰⁶ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 341.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 127 1-(3-Fluorophenyl)-3-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)urea

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using 3-fluoroaniline¹⁷⁰ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 287.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 128 4-(2-Methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazine¹⁷¹ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 366.1 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 129 6-Chloro-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using 6-chloroindoline¹⁷² in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 329.1 ([M+H]⁺) 329.1 ({³⁵Cl}[M+H]⁺), 331.1 ({³⁷Cl}) [M+H]⁺).

Example 130 N-(3-(1-Methyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 22 using 3-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)aniline¹⁷³ in place of 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 334.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 131 2-(4-Methoxycyclohexyl)-N-methyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 2 using 4-methoxycyclohexane-1-carbaldehyde¹⁷⁴ in place of 2-(3-methylimidazol-4-yl)quinoline-4-carbaldehyde. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 420.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 132 3-Methoxy-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)isonicotinamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 3-methoxyisonicotinic acid¹⁷⁵ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 285.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 133 N2-Methyl-N5-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)pyridine-2,5-dicarboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 6-(methylcarbamoyl)nicotinic acid¹⁷⁶ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. Light grey solid. MS (ISP): 312.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 134 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-sulfonamide

A solution of tert-butyl 4-(N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)sulfamoyl)piperidine-1-carboxylate (55 mg, example 125) and 4 M hydrogen chloride solution in 1,4-dioxane (1.05 g, 1 ml, 4 mmol, Eq: 28.8) in 1,4-dioxane (1 ml) was stirred at room temperature for 15 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The solid product was collected by filtration, washing with 1,4-dioxane, to afford N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperidine-4-sulfonamide (36 mg, 78%) as its hydrochloride salt as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 295.1 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 135 4-(4-Chlorobenzyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)piperazine-1-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 87 using 1-(4-chlorobenzyl)piperazine¹⁷⁷ in place of N1-phenylbenzene-1,4-diamine. White solid. MS (ISP): 386.1 ({³⁵Cl}[M+H]⁺), 388.1 ({³⁷Cl}[M+H]⁺).

Example 136 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(pyridin-4-yl)benzoic acid¹⁷⁸ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 331.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 137 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)benzofuran-3-sulfonamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 118 using benzofuran-3-sulfonyl chloride¹⁷⁹ in place of methyl 4-(chlorosulfonyl)benzoate. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 330.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 138 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)nicotinamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(3-methoxyphenyl)nicotinic acid¹⁸⁰ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 361.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 139 N-(1-Benzylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

To a stirred suspension of methyl 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylate⁵⁷ (100 mg) and 1-benzylpiperidin-4-amine¹⁸¹ (119 mg) in toluene (2 ml) under argon was added dropwise trimethylaluminum (520 μl, 2 M solution in toluene) to give a brown solution. The reaction mixture was stirred at 110° C. for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was quenched by dropwise addition to water (10 ml). THF (50 ml) was then added. The resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 h. The mixture was then washed twice with saturated brine. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was triturated in EtOAc (4 ml), then filtered through sintered glass, washing with EtOAc (2×) and then with Et₂O (2×). The solid crystals were dried in vacuo to afford 124 mg of an off-white solid. The impure solid was triturated with methanol (5 ml), then filtered through sintered glass, washing with methanol (1 x), and then with Et₂O (2×). The crystalline product was dried in vacuo to afford N-(1-benzylpiperidin-4-yl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide (83 mg, 46%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 351.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 140 5-(5-Aminoindolin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one hydrochloride

The title compound was obtained as its hydrochloride salt in analogy to example 58 using tert-butyl indolin-5-ylcarbamate¹⁶⁴ in place of tert-butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate in step a. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 267.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 141 N-(1-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide

To a stirred suspension of 5-(5-aminoindolin-1-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one dihydrochloride (47 mg) and triethylamine (96.6 μl) in dichloromethane (3 ml) was added dropwise acetic anhydride (19.6 μl). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was poured into THF/EtOAc (3:1) and extracted sequentially with water and with saturated brine. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluant: 0% to 10% MeOH in dichloromethane) to afford N-(1-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide (24 mg, 56%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 309.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 142 N-(3-(Oxazol-5-yl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 139 using 3-(oxazol-5-yl)aniline¹⁸² in place of 1-benzylpiperidin-4-amine. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 321.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 143 tert-Butyl 4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-1-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid¹⁸³ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 393.3 ([M−H]⁻).

Example 144 N-(2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide

To a stirred suspension of tert-butyl 4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-1-carboxylate (120 mg) in dichloromethane (5 ml) was added a solution of 4 M HCl in dioxane (1.52 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. An additional aliquot of 4 M HCl in dioxane (761 μl) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for a further 2 h. The reaction mixture was filtered through a sintered glass funnel to afford N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide hydrochloride (95 mg, 94% yield) as its hydrochloride salt as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 295.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 145 1-Acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide

To a stirred suspension of N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide hydrochloride (95 mg) and triethylamine (160 μl) in dichloromethane (3 ml) was added dropwise acetic anhydride (40.6 μl). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was poured into THF/EtOAc (3:1) and extracted with water. The aqueous layer was filtered through a sintered glass funnel. The solid was collected and DMSO (2 ml) was added to give a suspension. The suspension was filtered through a sintered glass funnel and washed with water (20 ml). The solid was collected and dried in vacuo to afford 1-acetyl-N-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)indoline-4-carboxamide (35 mg, 36.%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 337.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 146 N-(4-(((2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)amino)phenyl)acetamide

To a stirred suspension of 2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carbaldehyde⁶⁰ (100 mg) and N-(4-aminophenyl)acetamide¹⁵⁵ (97.5 mg) in methanol (8 ml) were added zinc chloride (336 mg) and sodium cyanoborohydride (116 mg). The reaction mixture was shaken at 60° C. for 3 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was added to water. THF was added, then 1 N aq. HCl was added to adjust the pH to 3. The reaction mixture was then stirred at room temperature for 10 min. The mixture was extracted with saturated brine. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluant: 0% to 10% MeOH in dichloromethane) to afford N-(4-(((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)amino)phenyl)acetamide (65 mg, 36%) as a yellow solid. MS (ISP): 297.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 147 N-(2-(Methylcarbamoyl)phenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 139 using 2-amino-N-methylbenzamide¹⁸⁴ in place of 1-benzylpiperidin-4-amine. White solid. MS (ISP): 311.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 148

tert-Butyl (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 146 using tert-butyl indolin-5-ylcarbamate¹⁶⁴ in place of N-(4-aminophenyl)acetamide. White solid. MS (ISP): 381.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 149 5-((5-Aminoindolin-1-yl)methyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a stirred suspension of tert-butyl (1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)carbamate (64 mg) in dichloromethane (5 ml) at room temperature was added a solution of 4 N HCl in dioxane (841 μl). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. The reaction mixture was filtered through a Sartorius funnel, washing twice with diethyl ether), and the solid was dried in vacuo to afford 5-((5-aminoindolin-1-yl)methyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (74 mg, quant.) as its hydrochloride salt as a white solid. MS (ISP): 281.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 150 N-(1-((2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide

To a stirred suspension of 5-((5-aminoindolin-1-yl)methyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one hydrochloride (50 mg) and triethylamine (88 μl) in dichloromethane (3 ml) at room temperature was added dropwise acetic anhydride (22.3 μl). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was poured into THF/EtOAc (4:1) and extracted with saturated brine. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄ and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluant: 0% to 10% MeOH in dichloromethane) to afford N-(1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)indolin-5-yl)acetamide (10 mg, 20%) as an off-white solid. MS (ISP): 323.2 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 151 Methyl 2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 68 using 2-(methoxycarbonyl)benzoic acid¹⁸⁵ in place of benzofuran-3-carboxylic acid. White solid. MS (ISP): 312.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 152 5-((1-Benzylpiperidin-4-yl)amino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 58 steps a-c using 1-benzylpiperidin-4-amine¹⁸¹ in place of tert-butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate in step a. Purple solid. MS (ISP): 323.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 153 Methyl 6-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)nicotinate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 58 steps a-c using methyl 6-aminonicotinate¹⁸⁶ in place of tert-butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate, potassium tert-butoxide in place of N,N-diisopropylethylamine, and DMSO in place of acetonitrile in step a. Light yellow solid. MS (ISP): 285.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 154 5-(Benzyloxy)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

a) 4-(Benzyloxy)-1,2-dinitro-benzene

To a stirred suspension of benzyl alcohol (1 ml) and potassium hydroxide (49.7 mg) at room temperature was added 4-fluoro-1,2-dinitrobenzene⁶² (150 mg) and tris[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]amine (25.8 μl). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was complete. The reaction mixture was partitioned between ethyl acetate (75 ml) and water (40 ml). The layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with two 30 ml portions of ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed sequentially with one 40 ml portion of water and one 40 ml portion of saturated brine, then dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (SiO2, eluant: n-heptane/ethyl acetate: 100:0 to 75:25) to give, after concentration under high vacuum, 4-(benzyloxy)-1,2-dinitro-benzene (242 mg, 93%) as a light yellow oil which was used in the next step without further purification.

b) 4-(Benzyloxy)benzene-1,2-diamine

To a solution of 4-(benzyloxy)-1,2-dinitrobenzene (247 mg) and 37% aq. HCl (2 ml) in ethanol (2 ml) at room temperature was added tin (II) chloride dihydrate (711 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at 60° C. for 5 h. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was quenched at 0-5° C. with 2 M aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and then stirred for 10 min. The reaction mixture was partitioned between 1:1 ethyl acetate/THF (50 ml) and 1 M aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (30 ml). The layers were separated. The aqueous layer was extracted once with ethyl acetate (40 ml). The combined organic layers were washed once with saturated brine (30 ml), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo to afford 4-(benzyloxy)benzene-1,2-diamine (148 mg, 77%) as a yellow solid which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 215.0 ([M+H]⁺).

c) 5-(Benzyloxy)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one

To a stirred suspension of 4-(benzyloxy)benzene-1,2-diamine (148 mg) in tetrahydrofuran (3 ml) at room temperature was added CDI (168 mg). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 min. LC-MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. The reaction mixture was partitioned between 1:1 ethyl acetate/THF (50 ml) and saturated brine (30 ml). The layers were separated and the organic layer was washed with once with saturated brine (20 ml), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. Preparative reverse-phase HPLC (Gemini NX 3 um, 50 mm×4.6 mm column) afforded 5-(benzyloxy)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one (32 mg, 19%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 241.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 155 Methyl 2-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)methyl)isoindoline-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 146 using methyl isoindoline-5-carboxylate¹⁸⁷ in place of N-(4-aminophenyl)acetamide. Grey solid. MS (ISP): 324.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example 156 N-Methyl-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)oxy)benzamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 154 using 4-hydroxy-N-methylbenzamide¹⁸⁸ in place of benzyl alcohol in step a. Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 284.1 ([M+H]⁺).

Example A N-(5-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)pentyl)-2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

a) tert-Butyl (5-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)pentyl)carbamate

To a solution of 2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetic acid (150 mg) in dichloromethane (15 ml) was added 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide¹⁸⁹ (108 mg) and DMAP (54.9 mg). After stirring at room temperature for 10 minutes, tert-butyl (5-aminopentyl)carbamate¹⁹⁰ (75.7 mg) was added and the resulting solution was stirred at room temperature for 48 h. The reaction mixture was partitioned between water and dichloromethane, 1 M aq. HCl was added and the mixture was separated. The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 5% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford tert-butyl (5-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)pentyl)carbamate (124 mg, 57%) as a light brown oil. MS (ISP): 585.2 ([M+H]⁺).

b) (S)—N-(5-Aminopentyl)-2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide Hydrochloride

To a solution of tert-butyl (5-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)pentyl)carbamate (124 mg) in dioxane (2 ml) was added a 4 M solution of HCl in dioxane (795 μl. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 h. The solid was filtered to afford (S)—N-(5-aminopentyl)-2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide hydrochloride (98 mg, 89%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 485.1 ([M+H]⁺).

c) Methyl 2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 starting from methyl 3-amino-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate (example 9).

d) 2-Ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic Acid

To a solution of methyl 2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate (155 mg) in MeOH (1 ml) and THF (2 ml) was added 1 M aq. LiOH (1.38 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 20 h. LC-MS analysis showed that the reaction was not complete. 1 M aq. LiOH (1 mL) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred overnight. The volatiles were evaporated and a solution of 2 M aq. HCl was added to the remaining aqueous phase until pH=0. The resulting light yellow suspension was stirred at 0° C. for 15 min and was filtered to give 2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid (125 mg, 84%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 323.1 ([M+H]⁺).

e) N-(5-(2-((6S)-4-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)pentyl)-2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

To 2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid (50 mg) was added a solution of HATU in DMF (692 μl, 0.944 g/ml). N,N-Diisopropylethylamine (108 μl) and N-(5-aminopentyl)-2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide (75.2 mg) were added. The reaction mixture was shaken at room temperature for 4 hours and then transferred to a separating funnel. Water and ethyl acetate were added to give a sticky solid. After removal of the aqueous and organic layer, the sticky solid was recovered by dissolving in CH₂Cl₂/MeOH (90:10). The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 20% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford N-(5-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)pentyl)-2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide (30 mg, 25%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 789.29 ([M+H]⁺).

Example B (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-(2-(4-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

a) tert-Butyl (2-(2-(2-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)carbamate

To a solution of 2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetic acid (150 mg) in dichloromethane (15 ml) were added 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (108 mg) and DMAP (54.9 mg). After stirring at room temperature for 10 minutes, tert-butyl (5-aminopentyl)carbamate¹⁹¹ (75.7 mg) was added and the resulting solution was stirred at room temperature for 48 h. The reaction mixture was partitioned between water and dichloromethane, then 1 M aq. HCl was added and the mixture was separated. The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 5% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford tert-butyl (2-(2-(2-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)carbamate (213 mg, 90%) as a colorless oil. MS (ISP): 631.4 ([M+H]⁺).

b) N-(2-(2-(2-Aminoethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide Hydrochloride

To a solution of tert-butyl (2-(2-(2-(2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)carbamate (213 mg) in dioxane (2 ml) was added a solution of 4 M HCl in dioxane (1.27 ml). The reaction was stirred at room temperature for 1 h. The solvent was evaporated and the residue was dissolved in a minimum of ethanol, then diethyl ether was added dropwise. The solid obtained was filtered to afford N-(2-(2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-((6S)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide hydrochloride (105 mg, 55%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 531.3 ([M+H]⁺).

c) (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-(2-(4-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

To 2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid (30 mg) in DMF (1 ml) were added (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide hydrochloride (52.8 mg), HATU (42.5 mg) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (65 μl). The reaction mixture was shaken at room temperature for 4 hours then transferred to a separating funnel. LC/MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. Water and ethyl acetate were added to give a sticky solid. After removal of the aqueous and organic layer, the sticky solid was recovered by dissolving in CH₂Cl₂/MeOH (90:10). The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 20% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-(2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide (23.6 mg, 30%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 835.29 ([M+H]⁺).

Example C (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-(2-(4-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

a) Methyl 2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example 1 starting from methyl 3-amino-4-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)amino)benzoate (example 9).

b) 2′-Oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic Acid

To a solution of methyl 2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylate (90 mg) in MeOH (1 ml) and THF (2 ml) was added 1 M aq. LiOH (1.41 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 20 h. The reaction mixture was partitioned between ethyl acetate and water. The organic layer was discarded and the aqueous layer was acidified by addition of a solution of 2 M aq. HCl until pH=0. The aqueous phase was extracted with a 1:1 mixture of ethyl acetate and THF. The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to give 2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid (90 mg, 46%) which was used in the next step without further purification. MS (ISP): 422.2 ([M+H]⁺).

c) (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-(2-(4-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide

To a solution of 2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid (33.7 mg) in DMF (1 ml) were added (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamide hydrochloride (50 mg), HATU (36.5 mg) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (56 μl). The reaction mixture was shaken at room temperature for 4 hours and then transferred to a separating funnel. LC/MS analysis indicated that the reaction was finished. Water and ethyl acetate were added to give a sticky solid. After removal of the aqueous and organic layer, the sticky solid was recovered by dissolving in CH₂Cl₂/MeOH (90:10). The organic layer was dried over MgSO₄, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography (silica gel, eluent: 0 to 20% of methanol in dichloromethane) to afford (S)—N-(2-(2-(2-(2-(4-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,9-trimethyl-6H-thieno[3,2-f][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]diazepin-6-yl)acetamido)ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-2′-oxo-2-(quinolin-4-yl)-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxamide (37.6 mg, 50.3%) as a white solid. MS (ISP): 934.30 ([M+H]⁺).

Example D N4-[5-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca-2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]pentyl]-N1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide

a) Methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate

To a stirred solution of methyl indoline-4-carboxylate (119 mg) and triethylamine (178 μl) in THF (2 ml) was added triphosgene (73.6 mg) at 0-5° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 1 hour then a solution of 5-amino-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-2-one (100 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (1 ml) was added. The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. for 1 hour According to LC/MS, the reaction was finished. The reaction was quenched by addition of water (10 ml) and the suspension was stirred for 10 min. The solid was collected by filtration and was suspended in a 1:1 mixture of DMSO/THF. After stirring, the suspension was filtered and the filtercake was washed with water, dried in vacuo to afford methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate (236 mg, 86%). Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 353.1 ([M+H]⁺).

b) 1-((2-Oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic Acid

To a suspension of methyl 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylate (120 mg) in a 1:1 mixture of THF/methanol (3 ml) was added a 1 m solution of LiOH (1.36 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at 25° C. overnight. A solution of 5N HCl was slowly added to the dark brown solution until precipitation. The solid was filtered and the solid was dried in vacuo. The filtrate was evaporated, the residue was dissolved and the solution was submit lyophilisation. The solids were mixed together to afford 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid (67 mg, 58.1%). Off-white solid. MS (ISP): 339.1 ([M+H]⁺).

c) N4-[5-[[2-[(9S)-7-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4,5,13-trimethyl-3-thia-1,8,11,12-tetrazatricyclo[8.3.0.02,6]trideca-2(6),4,7,10,12-pentaen-9-yl]acetyl]amino]pentyl]-N1-(2-oxo-1,3-dihydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)indoline-1,4-dicarboxamide

The title compound was obtained in analogy to example A using 1-((2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-5-yl)carbamoyl)indoline-4-carboxylic acid in place of 2-ethyl-2′-oxo-2′,3′-dihydro-1′H-[1,5′-bibenzo[d]imidazole]-5-carboxylic acid for step e. White foam. MS (ISP): 805.3 ([M+H]⁺).

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings of this invention that certain changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of their invention as defined in the appended claims.

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We claim:
 1. A compound selected from

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 2. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 3. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 4. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 5. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 6. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 7. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 8. The compound of claim 1 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 9. A compound selected from

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 10. The compound of claim 9 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 11. The compound of claim 9 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 12. The compound of claim 9 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 13. The compound of claim 9 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 14. A compound selected from

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 15. The compound of claim 14 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 16. The compound of claim 14 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 17. The compound of claim 14 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 18. The compound of claim 14 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 19. The compound of claim 14 of the formula

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
 20. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of claim 1 optionally in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 21. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of claim 9 optionally in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 22. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of claim 14 optionally in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. 